Aubrey Plaza Reveals What Fans Can Expect from 'The White Lotus' Season 2: 'It's Pretty Wild'

Aubrey Plaza is opening up.

The 37-year-old actress spoke with Cosmopolitan for the Holy Grail issue, where she discussed her career, the new season of The White Lotus, and what fans can expect from her upcoming projects.

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On how she’s changed in the past few years: “I feel like I finally gave myself some space to breathe and focus on what I really wanted to do… The pandemic was an oddly productive time. 2020 got all weird, then, for me, 2021 started off with a bang and it just didn’t stop. I think because of being quarantined for so long, I was like, F–k it. I’m going in.”

On being in Italy, filming the second season of The White Lotus: “I’m so excited. We literally started today. It’s pretty wild. We’ve taken over this entire hotel. There’s an energy, for sure… It’s cool how the location informs the show. Sicily is such a culturally rich place. I mean, there’s a literal volcano that has erupted since we’ve been here. It’s a very charged environment. It’s going to feel like that.”

On having a lot of women friends who are a bit older than she is: “Maybe it’s because I’m an older sister, so I never had my own older sister. I’m sure my therapist would have something to say about that. Parks and Rec was my introduction to acting and living in L.A., and I had Amy [Poehler] and Rashida [Jones] take me under their wings; they became my older sisters. I do feel like I have a lot of mentor friends and I gravitate toward powerful women. I idolize them.”

On the zeitgeist-y premises of both Emily the Criminal and Ingrid Goes West: “That’s why I wanted to do it, because I had the same feeling after I read Ingrid Goes West. And what’s funny about Emily the Criminal is it was actually written a long time ago. But it feels so timely. I was like, ‘Why can’t the system be the villain?’ There is a ‘bad guy’ in the movie, but the real bad guy is this system we’re all in that is so fucked up.”

On shooting a pilot where she really got to center her Puerto Rican identity for the first time: “Yeah, I was really nervous. I’m half Puerto Rican and it’s such a big part of my identity as a person, but as an actress, I feel it’s never been a real focal point. I think a lot of people are surprised that I’m Puerto Rican. It’s always been this struggle to feel like you belong and this script was a lot about that.”

On being misunderstood: “I’m more often misunderstood in my everyday interactions, which still continues to make me laugh. Like all my text messages are getting misconstrued—I think people think that I’m never serious, but a lot of times I’m just saying what I actually think. I’ve heard more than once that I’m intimidating, that I’m on the offensive all the time, but I’m not. I’ve said things to certain people here on-set where they clearly thought I was f–king with them.”

On the feature film she finished writing during the pandemic: “It’s been years in the making; it’s a bigger film than I think people would expect from me. Who knows if I’ll even get the financing. But—talking about taking big swings—it’s, like, a big swing. It’s me doing a type of film that kids could enjoy too, which I really like. Those are the movies that I grew up watching, early Tim Burton movies like Beetlejuice and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. If I’m going to make a movie, I want to really, really go for it and make something that’s just totally out-there. Who am I to even think I can pull this off? But I’m going to try. I can’t really say what it’s about because I don’t want to jinx it, but it’s a movie. A silly movie! A silly movie that hopefully will turn into theme parks! I want it all.”

On where her ideas usually come from: “Usually from being out in the world. I don’t live a life where I’m constantly reminded that I’m an actor or that I’m famous. When I’m in L.A., there are paparazzi photos of me walking my dogs every day because they’re waiting for Brad Pitt but they get me instead.”

On whether she seeks out weird experiences that might inspire her: “A little bit. It’s fun. I’d rather have weird challenges than have everything available to me all the time. Then I wouldn’t know what to do… You never know what might happen.”

Check out more from Aubrey at Cosmopolitan.com.

Four more stars were recently announced for The White Lotus season 2.