Aubrey Plaza is an actress, comedian, and producer, and now, a late night phenomenon thanks to her odd anecdotes and supremely awkward reactions.
Promoting her new movie Child's Play, Aubrey Plaza is on the media circuit again, generously giving the people what they want. Plaza makes the most seasoned hosts fumble gloriously— you can't help but laugh. Her strange persona sparkles one-on-one and now, more than ever, she's simply the most fun.
Aubrey Plaza Meets Ellen
Aubrey Plaza had already been on various talk shows at this point in her career, but when she finally made it to daytime television, she became a memorable interviewee. A clip of the interview was difficult to find, possibly because The Ellen DeGeneres Show tried to scrub it from the internet. Throughout their five stupendous minutes together, Ellen had no idea how to handle Plaza's off-beat delivery and humor— for once, Ellen was thrown off and hilariously perplexed.
Aubrey Plaza: F#*% You Old People, I'm Going To Live Forever!
No one can banter with Aubrey Plaza like Conan O'Brien. She's often a highlight of his program, but out of all the videos, this one stands out. Here, Aubrey recounts her legendary speech after winning the Young Hollywood Award, where she told old people to go f#*% themselves and declared that she was going to live forever. Wonderfully, she goes on to explain that as a child, she wanted to be an old woman because she believed old people could get away with anything.Aubrey Plaza Flashed The Dirty Grandpa Producers at Her Audition
For once, the headline of a late night clip isn't clickbait. Seth Meyers, with his boyish charm, giddily laughed while Plaza narrated the unforgettable moment. Although Plaza had been asked to audition for Zac Efron's love interest, she pushed to play the role of Robert De Nero's smokin' boo. This interview has it all: butts, producers, dirty pictures, and of course, Aubrey Plaza.
Aubrey Plaza's Audition For Catwoman
Just the other day, Plaza graced Stephen Colbert's show to promote Child's Play. Jump forward to the 6:50-minute mark to experience their hysterical bit. After Colbert asks her about wanting to audition for Catwoman, she slowly transforms into the role as Colbert brings out more cat-like accessories. The clip ends with Plaza on Colbert's desk, pawing at his face. The host couldn't help but smile as he tried to move to commercial break.
The Parks and Recreation Cast Sings "Bye, Bye Li'l Sebastian"
Saving the best for last, Aubrey Plaza took bits to a whole other level on Late Night with Seth Meyers during the Parks and Recreation send-off— stealing the spotlight with another co-star. Please, just watch for yourself if you haven't seen the sensational clip already.
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Liam Neeson Admits to Wanting to Kill a "Black Bastard" in an Act of Revenge
The interview went in an unexpected direction.
Liam Neeson
Thoughts and prayers to Liam Neeson's publicist who is undoubtedly dealing with the consequences of Neeson's wildly problematic Independentinterview. The purpose of the interview was to discuss Neeson's upcoming movie Cold Pursuit, an action thriller (obviously) about a snow plow driver who goes after the drug dealers he believes killed his son. When the interview turned to the subject of revenge, a clear theme in the movie, Neeson said, "There's something primal – God forbid you've ever had a member of your family hurt under criminal conditions," he continues. "I'll tell you a story. This is true."
He then went on to relate a tale from many years ago, when he learned that a woman close to him had been raped. All she knew about her attacker was that he was a black man, leading Neeson to roam the streets for weeks afterwards, carrying a "cosh" (a stick-like weapon) hoping to meet a man who fit the description, get into a fight with him and, ultimately, kill him.
"She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way." He said, "But my immediate reaction was...I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person."
He continued, "I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I'd be approached by somebody – I'm ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] 'black bastard' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him." At this juncture, we recommend picturing the faces of the journalist who was expecting a tepid movie promotion interview, and Liam Neeson's costar, Tom Bateman, who was also present but likely recognized that nothing he could say for the remainder of the interview would have any consequence whatsoever.
Neeson went on, "It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, 'Where are you going?' and I would say, 'I'm just going out for a walk.' You know? 'What's wrong?' 'No no, nothing's wrong.' It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that," he says. "And I've never admitted that, and I'm saying it to a journalist. God forbid."
Echoing the primary sentiment of the world at this moment, Bateman said, "Holy shit."
But Neeson wasn't done yet, "It's awful. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, 'What the fuck are you doing,' you know?"
"I come from a society – I grew up in Northern Ireland in the Troubles – and, you know, I knew a couple of guys that died on hunger strike, and I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Ireland's proof of that. All this stuff that's happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand."
What was said in the remainder of the interview feels pretty irrelevant, given that Neeson had just admitted to once wanting to kill a "black blast are." While it's undoubtedly productive for white people to engage with and acknowledge their own implicit biases and past racist behavior in an effort to change for the better, this was not a harmless admission of past non-PC statements. This was an admission of plans to commit a hate crime, treated as though it was a harmless anecdote.
Yes, Neeson's intention in telling the story was clearly to acknowledge the poisonous nature of revenge, but the ease with which he shared it suggests a man who considered himself already forgiven by the public for his appalling confession. He told it as though it were relatable and understandable, using racially-charged language ("what color were they") but not necessarily acknowledging the obvious racist implications of the story. Even when he expressed regret for his intentions, he didn't specifically recognize the racism in his anger being aimed at any and all black men because they happened to share a skin tone with the man who assaulted his loved one. Instead, he ultimately related the story to the troubles of Ireland, a seemingly unrelated comparison. If Neeson's problematic interview shows us anything, it's that there is still a long way to go in terms of finding ways to have productive racial discourse. Acknowledged racism is not excused racism.
Brooke Ivey Johnson is a Brooklyn based writer, playwright, and human woman. To read more of her work visit her blog or follow her twitter @BrookeIJohnson.
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