Aubrey Plaza has struggled to return to her deadpan demeanor as iconic ‘Parks and Recreation’ character April Ludgate.
The ‘White Lotus’ season 2 star opened up The Los Angeles Times that reprising his beloved role of “Parks and Rec” for the Jan. 21 episode of “Saturday Night Live” was a nerve-wracking experience.
“I was terrified of playing April Ludgate again,” Plaza said. “I had a moment where I was like, ‘I don’t know how to do this.’ I really wish I had been in therapy at the time. But I was like, ‘I hope I make it,’ which is so ridiculous.
Plaza watched YouTube compilations of April Ludgate’s highlights from the series that ended in 2015.
Once on ‘SNL,’ Plaza shared, ‘It was so satisfying to put on that wig and pull up that hoodie. What made it so easy is being next to Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) — I mean, if I had to go out on my own, I don’t know if I would have been able to.
He added, “(‘Parks and Recreation’) felt like a lifetime ago.”
Plaza previously turned to the role of sarcastic intern April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom series.
“I don’t mind being a printer because I feel so lucky to be on ‘Parks and Recreation,’ and that was one of my first really big jobs, and I’m so strongly associated with that character,” Plaza said. “I think there were years when I was on that show where I was only offered those kinds of parts, and that’s just what happens. You do something, people respond and they want to see you do it over and over and over again. I think you just have to be really proactive about changing that narrative for yourself. It gave me the motivation to put myself to the test.”
She continued, “I think, for a while, I’ve been like, ‘Aw man, I’ve been put in a box, and I don’t like it, so I’m going to fight to get out of it and show people what I can do’ or something like that. But then I started to look at it as a gift. If I convince people so well that I was that thing and then I do something totally different, it will be much more satisfying to surprise them. So I started trying to think like that and be a little more positive and less bitter about it.
