AUBREY Plaza spoke of her pride in late husband Jeff Baena in the final Instagram post of them together before his death.
The screenwriter was found dead inside his Los Angeles home aged 47, according to reports.
Law enforcement told TMZ that he died by suicide.
Aubrey, 40, and Jeff had been together for over a decade but haven’t appeared on social media together since 2021 – the year they got married.
That rare post showed them looking lovingly at one another with Aubrey captioning it: “So proud of my darling husband @jeffbaena for dreaming up another film that take us to Italia to cause some more trouble.”
Jeff was best known for Indie movies such as Life After Beth, Joshy and The Little Hours.
Los Angeles police and fire department received a phone call from Baena’s assistant on Friday at around 10:30am.
He was confirmed dead by cops as they arrived. They are yet to officially confirm his cause of death.
Jeff’s family have been left “devastated” by the sudden news and have asked for privacy, say US outlet Deadline.
He was born and raised in Miami before he headed to New York to attend film school at university.
Jeff then started his journey as a filmmaker in Los Angeles where he became a writer.
In 2004 he co-wrote the hit film I Heart Huckabees and worked with Hollywood elites Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law and Naomi Watts.
A decade later, he found his big solo break with the 2014 zombie flick Life After Beth which starred his eventual wife Plaza as well as comedy star John C. Reilly.
The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize before its A24 release.
Megalopolis actress Aubrey publicly praised her then boyfriend for helping her cut through the film and TV industry.
She told People: “I think that when you’re with someone that is in your field, they understand what you’re dealing with on a deeper level.
“So obviously you are able to support each other and really understand kind of the journey that we’re both on.”
Jeff’s career saw him be nominated for several awards for his writing and directorial skills.
He bagged himself a second Grand Jury Prize nomination in 2016 for Joshy.
His The Little Hours project from a year later was also put up for the Audience Award at the 2017 Edinburgh International Film Festival.
He also had a go at writing for TV with the Showtime series Cinema Toast which he created, wrote, directed and executive produced.
Aubrey made her directorial debut with an episode of the show called Quiet Illness.
Jeff has left behind his wife, mum Barbra Stern, stepfather Roger Stern and stepmother Michele Baena.
He also has one brother in Brad and two step siblings in Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
