VIDEO: Aubrey Plaza Makes Her Stern Show Debut

Aubrey Plaza isn’t waiting for a director to yell action before getting into the mind of a character. While the talented actress, comedian, and Hollywood mainstay doesn’t consider herself as “method” as say, Daniel Day-Lewis, she does start playing the part well before the cameras begin rolling. When filming the raunchy 2016 comedy “Dirty Grandpa,” for example, she transformed into her character so completely on set that Robert De Niro hardly recognized her at the wrap party despite having played her on-screen love interest. And while shooting her upcoming sci-fi epic “Megalopolis,” legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola only called Plaza by her character’s name.

Plaza’s boldness on camera and dedication to her craft have no doubt helped fuel her meteoric rise from indie darling to A-list movie star, but during her Stern Show debut on Wednesday, she admitted she does sometimes go just a little too far. Take her critically acclaimed turn on “The White Lotus” Season 2, for example — Aubrey was so excited to join the show she had trouble settling into her first few scenes.

“I was at an 11 … I was so aggressive,” Plaza told Howard. “One of my first interactions with Mike [White] as a director — I was like … ‘I’ll have the fish!’ He was like, ‘Jesus, can you just order the fish like a normal person?’”

Photo: Getty Images for SiriusXM

Normalcy might not have been on the menu when Plaza shot “Megalopolis,” which co-stars celebrated eccentrics like Shia LaBeouf, Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman, and Jon Voight, among others.

“I felt right at home. We all got along,” Plaza said of working with the talented cast.

“Megalopolis,” which Aubrey believed must be the most expensive independent film ever made, isn’t the only mega-project the former “Parks and Recreation” star has on tap in September. She also appears on Marvel’s Disney+ miniseries “Agatha All the Way” and in the Margot Robbie-produced coming of age dramedy “My Old Ass,” which opens Friday in theaters.

Aubrey’s candid conversation with Howard covered more than just her prolific career, of course. They also discussed topics ranging from her basketball injuries and the stroke she survived at the age of 20 to hosting “Saturday Night Live” after having formerly worked there as an intern. Watch more from Aubrey Plaza’s Stern Show debut (below).