"Aubrey Plaza"

The episode opens with the three SmartLess hosts — Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman, and Will Arnett — engaging in casual banter about nostalgia, online criticism, and nicotine gum before introducing their guest, Aubrey Plaza, described as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people and a close friend of the group.

The conversation quickly turns to Plaza's early career origins. She explains how casting director Allison Jones discovered her at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) theater in New York while Plaza was auditioning for a Judd Apatow film. In one extraordinary week in Los Angeles, Plaza booked three major projects: Funny People, Parks and Recreation, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. She recounts how she walked into a casual meeting with Parks and Rec creators Mike Schur and Greg Daniels without even having an agent, not fully grasping the significance of the moment.

The hosts discuss Plaza's UCB years, including her sketch group 'That's My Booze' and her contemporaries such as Aziz Ansari, Nick Kroll, Jason Mantzoukas, Adam Pally, Zach Woods, and Chris Gethard. She also reveals she was dating UCB figure Joe Wengert at the time, who later becomes relevant to her new animated series.

A significant portion of the conversation focuses on Plaza's stroke at age 20, which occurred mid-sentence while she was telling friends about a Hilary Duff concert in Astoria, Queens. She describes the terrifying experience of being fully conscious and aware while her brain's language center was impaired by a blood clot, leaving her unable to speak but able to understand everything happening around her. She reflects on how this experience, which she suspects was caused by birth control, profoundly altered her sense of spirituality — shifting her from a Catholic upbringing toward what she humorously describes as 'the dark arts' — and helped her stop sweating the small stuff.

In a surprising and joyful moment, Plaza reveals she is pregnant with her first child, sharing that she had just come from an ultrasound earlier that day — her dog was simultaneously getting its own ultrasound at the vet. The hosts celebrate enthusiastically.

Plaza discusses her acting philosophy and evolution, noting that her dry, deadpan persona was partly shaped by early roles she studied, particularly citing Janeane Garofalo as a major influence and hero. She talks about her strategic thinking during Parks and Rec — always looking to break out of type — and her pivot toward producing as a way to control the quality and integrity of projects. She cites Emily the Criminal as a film she's deeply proud of, emphasizing that following the script without compromise was key to its success.

The conversation covers her time as an unpaid intern (and sometimes page) at 30 Rock, where she worked in the SNL set design department and later returned to host the show, creating a full-circle moment where she brought her old colleagues on stage during her monologue.

Plaza also discusses filming White Lotus for four to five months in Sicily and one month in Rome, her adaptability to new environments, and her return to New York City, where she plans to raise her family near her relatives in Philadelphia and Delaware.

The episode closes with Plaza promoting her new Amazon Prime animated series Kevin, which she co-created, produced, and stars in. The show is based on a real cat she shared with ex-boyfriend Joe Wengert in Astoria, Queens. In the show, animals and humans interact; the cat Kevin — voiced by Jason Schwartzman — leaves his owners after their breakup to live at a shelter and 'play the field' with other single cats. The cast includes John Waters, Whoopi Goldberg, and Amy Sedaris. Plaza notes the show has been in development since before the pandemic due to how long animation takes.