Despite published reports, Oscars weekend does have an official host. No, she won’t be appearing at the Dolby Theater on Sunday, but Aubrey Plaza is hosting the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday. And that makes her the de facto queen of the weekend and, as she proclaimed in our interview, the “last awards show host on earth.”
Plaza, admittedly, has a tough task ahead of her. She’s following up John Mulaney and Nick Kroll who knocked it out of the park hosting the telecast the past two years. The former Spirit Award nominee (as a producer for the amazing “Ingrid Goes West”) knows what she’s gotten herself into though even as she juggles preparing for the show and still shooting the third and final season of FX’s “Legion.” Oh, yeah, and that’s it’s going to be so cold in the Spirit Awards’ tent on Santa Monica Beach (forecast high is for 60 which is pretty chilly for Southern California in February).
READ MORE: “Eighth Grade” and “First Reformed” top 2019 Spirit Awards nominations
The “Community” and “Life After Beth” star jumped on the phone on Valentine’s Day to discuss her plans for a Spirit Awards show that she hopes will head back to its John Waters’ roots.
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The Playlist: Hey Aubrey, how are you?
Aubrey Plaza: Good, how are you?
Not too bad. You know, just getting through the day.
Ugh, it’s another Valentine’s Day.
It is! But the sun came out so I’m taking that as a good thing. Right?
I know, thank God. My house was flooding.
Are you serious? Really?
Oh yeah.
Is this a regular occurrence?
It’s starting to happen more and more. I’ve never seen this much rain since I’ve lived in L.A. But yeah, it’s an old house.
Wait, so I just have to ask. Is this the first floor or a lower level thing?
It’s like the lowest level. I have a first floor … I have many floors or many levels because my house is kind of built into a hill.
Right, O.K. Now it makes sense.
It’s a weird house where you go upstairs but you’re on ground level even though you’re upstairs. If that makes any sense. It’s very Californian.
For your sake, I hope it stops.
You know what? I don’t even care. Material things mean nothing to me. I mean, that house can just flood away and I’ll just live anywhere. I don’t care.
You can live in the Spirit Awards tent.
I will live in the Spirit Awards tent. I’m going to sleep there for the entire week just so that I feel comfortable.
Uh, yeah. ‘Cause it’s so nice and warm there [Laughs.]. But let’s talk about the show! What made you want to take this gig?
Honestly, I was so shocked when I was offered the job. I couldn’t believe that they thought of me and that they had confidence in me as a host. And I felt really honored and flattered, and I just was like, “This is just one of those universe moments where you’re being offered a gift.” Do you say “Yes,” do you say “No”? And I just felt like it would be foolish to say no. Even though it’s scary and terrifying to me, I just felt like, “Why not?” I tend to gravitate towards things that’s scare me, so it made sense.
When they offered is it one of those things where they say, “Hey, if there’s any writers you know or people you want to bring on board to help … ” Or is it more like, “Hey, we’ve got the team together. Do you want to host?”
It’s a little bit of both. I mean, it’s definitely way more up to me, I think, who’s involved. Because the people that have hosted in the past … Kroll, Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen … you know. There’s a lot of crossover with those writers and those people. I’ve got a really great group. A great mix of some people that have done the past shows and some people that haven’t.
I know when there are new producers for the Oscars that the Academy sends them every single tape of every recorded Oscars for reference. As a host for the Spirits, have you gone back and watched previous shows?
I have, in fact. The first question that I asked when I got the job. I was like, “You have to give me some archival footage. I want to see those John Waters shows. I gotta go back. See what kinds of shoes I’m filling.”
Was there anything that surprised you about the early shows?
So much surprised me. I think clothing was the biggest surprise. I mean, people were wearing jeans and blouses. It’s so interesting how the show has evolved. It started off as such a small event. Not televised, Sissy Spacek’s wearing her finest blouse, it’s not all corporate and Red Carpet-y and glammed up. It’s just naturally become a little bit more mainstream and a little bit closer to the Oscars, I guess.
Obviously, they only have so much time that they can give you for the show. Is there anything that you want to try to add that isn’t something that’s been done before?
Yeah, I mean, I think I’m trying to do everything differently. You know, my role is to keep the show going and be entertaining, I guess. So my version of that is very different than anyone else’s version. I’m letting my imagination kind of run wild and trying to do things that I would have loved to see if I was sitting in the audience.
Are you going to do a traditional monologue?
I would say yes. I don’t know how traditional it will be. But there will be … I’m not going to open with a tap dancing number unless you want me to. But yeah. I think the bottom line is the show is an intent on the beat. It’s not Carnegie Hall. There’s certain things that can work and there’s certain things that can’t work. You know, I’ve already asked them if I can be suspended on a harness and flown into the stage. And the answer was no. They don’t have the capability for that because it’s a tent. There’s no rigging system for that, so my dreams of replicating Whoopi Goldberg’s entrance died very quickly.
You are the only official host of Oscar Weekend. The entire weekend.
I’m it. I’m the last host on earth. I will speak to the world why hosts are important, and why it should not be a dying breed.
Are you just going to try to have fun with it at the Oscars expense?
No, I mean, I’m not hosting the Oscars. I’m hosting the Spirit Awards that just happened to be the day before. So I’m not going to ignore the fact that that’s a thing. But my job is to focus on the movies and the nominees that we’re celebrating in the room. There’s a little bit of crossover this year with the Oscars but not as much as there has been in the past. Which I’m very excited about because I think it kind of [harkening] back to how the awards show used to be. So, I’m kind of embracing that vibe and trying to bring back the spirit of Indie past.
Have you watched any of the nominees that you might not have seen before you got the gig?
Yes. I’ve watched as much as I can.
Is there any film that might not be on someone’s radar that you caught that’s nominated this year that you’d be like, “Hey, you should really see this.”
I would say I’m very committed about Josephine Decker’s movie “Madeline’s Madeline.” To me, she is a real auteur and I’m just excited that her film’s getting attention. I would say definitely check her out as a filmmaker. You’ll see more of her.
I love that movie. Before I let you go, though, I wanted to just ask a quick question about “Legion.” They announced that the upcoming season is the final one. Did you know that when you were shooting it?
I did, actually. Noah [Hawley] kind of from the beginning always said that he saw the show as kind of having a three-act structure to it. Three season structure to it. So that was not a surprise for me. It was one of the reasons why I was excited about the show. Because I like the idea of having a beginning, a middle, and an end. And not forcing something to just drag on for the hell of it.
Without giving anything away, what was your reaction to the eventual ending? I’m assuming you guys already finished shooting…
We have not actually. So I actually don’t know how it ends yet. I have not read the final episode.
Oh, wow. I thought you guys were coming back this spring.
We are, but we are still shooting away.
How are you shooting and preparing to do the Spirits at the same time?
I’m losing my mind. I mean, if you’re familiar with the show … you can imagine I’m going from writer’s room trying to make jokes and be funny and then I’m going to Legion where I’m being physically and emotionally tortured.
That’s really tough. You’re going above and beyond for this, Aubrey.
This is all happening at the same time. What am I going to do? I’ve got to be Lenny and I’ve got to be Aubrey.
But you’re going to make it through. Hopefully, it won’t rain.
Oh God. I’m not afraid of a little rain. Bring it on.
The 2019 Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, Feb. 23 and will air live on IFC beginning at 2 PM PT, 5 PM ET.