From Honey Don’t! and Agatha All Along to My Old Ass, the bisexual actor has delivered some iconic performances
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY HULU (STILL FROM HAPPIEST SEASON)
Aubrey Plaza is a bisexual actor with an impressive number of acting credits. She’s become known for her comical deadpan delivery, ability to build gripping chemistry onscreen with her co-stars and making sapphic and queer audiences around the world get hot under the collar. To celebrate the UK release of Honey Don’t!, join us in ranking 10 of Aubrey’s roles from least to most big sapphic energy. Spoiler: ranking these roles was extremely hard because Aubrey exudes big sapphic energy in everything she does.
The White Lotus: Season 2 (2022)
It was very exciting to see Aubrey Plaza join the cast of The White Lotus for the show’s second instalment. She played Harper, and while the character was not canonically queer, I spent the entirety of the third episode thinking she and Daphne (Meghann Fahy) were going to make out. You’ve got to serve up plenty of sapphic energy in order to pull off that chemistry even when playing a straight character.
Saturday Night Live (2023)
This is more of an honourable mention because she is playing herself, but it took a really long time for people to recover from the giddiness they experienced from seeing Aubrey kiss Chloe Fineman to promote her SNL hosting gig.
Little Demon (2022)
Aubrey has lots of voice acting credits under her belt, and in this adult animated comedy horror series we get to see her voice the bisexual Laura Feinberg. She’s a single mother, the former lover of Satan and she at one point gets together with a sea monster lady!
Spin Me Round (2022)
This dark comedy stars another bisexual actor, Alison Brie (Amber), and subverts classic romcom conventions. Aubrey plays Kat, who tries to seduce Alison, we get to see the two share an onscreen kiss. The two have natural chemistry together, likely due to the fact that they have shared the screen together multiple times.
The Little Hours (2017)
One of Aubrey’s most iconic performances is of Sister Fernanda. She’s a foul-mouth nun who likes to get freaky. She also has a one night stand with Sister Ginevra (Kate Micucci). Plus, this is another film where she shares the screen with Alison who plays Alessandra.
Legion (2017)
This is a show with legions of fans, many of whom are #obsessed with Aubrey’s Lenny Busker who has some interesting superpowers. There’s lots of twists and turns, and it’s best to go into this one knowing nothing – so I’ll say no more.
My Old Ass (2024)
We need more weird films like this one that also tug at the heart strings. In this dramedy we see 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) come face-to-face with her witty 39-year-old self (Aubrey) as a result of a mushroom trip. This coming-of-age story is wonderfully queer and full of self discovery and it allows Elliott the space to figure herself out. She never questioned her attraction for other girls, but she finds herself confused when she discovers she has feelings for a guy (despite her older self warning her to stay away from him).
Addicted To Fresno (2015)
This is an underrated lesbian comedy brought to you by the queer director behind But I’m A Cheerleader. It stars honourary lesbian Natasha Lyonne as Martha. Aubrey’s character, Kelly – who happens to be a sexy lesbian gym instructor – spends most of her screentime trying to get Martha to go on a date with her. Sadly, Martha still has feelings for her “straight” ex and doesn’t see what’s right in front of her eyes.
Happiest Season (2020)
This film really showed that there is an appetite for queermas films and fans have been begging for a sequel starring Aubrey ever since the end credits rolled. Kristen Stewart leads this one as Abby who is smitten with her longtime partner Harper (Mackenzie Davis). Planning to propose to Harper, Abby joins Harper to go and meet her family for the first time, only to discover that she is yet to come out to her parents. Aubrey plays Harper’s charismatic ex Riley – and ever since the film’s release many viewers have stated that Abby and Riley should’ve ended up together, and I’m in this camp too.
Honey Don’t! (2025)
Ever since the teaser of Margaret Qualley‘s Honey O’Donahue walking around in her “click-clacking heels” to seduce MG Falcone (Aubrey), sapphics, queers and basically everyone has been on the edge of their seats waiting to watch this one. It’s the second instalment in Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s “lesbian B-movie trilogy” and as it was only just released today (5 September) in the UK, I won’t give too much away. What I will say is this: there’s lesbian sex scenes and plenty of fingering.
Agatha All Along (2024)
I was tempted to make Honey Don’t! the highest ranked on big sapphic energy on this list. It’s definitely very graphic and overt in its queerness. But, for me, Aubrey’s portrayal of Rio/Death in this series was so gripping. Her chemistry with Kathryn Hahn was sizzling and kept me tuning in. Aubrey also made queerstory, as her onscreen kiss with Kathryn was the first onscreen sapphic kiss in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also, I love witches and there’s not enough onscreen rep of lesbian and sapphic witches.
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