section_path: Early life and education
section_name: Early life and education
paragraph_text: Early life and education
  
  Aubrey Christina Plaza was born on June 26, 1984, in Wilmington, Delaware. The eldest of three sisters, she was born when her parents, Bernadette and David Plaza, were 19 and 20. Plaza said she was inspired by their work ethic; when she was young, they worked various jobs to make ends meet and attended night school in pursuit of their respective professional qualifications to become an attorney and financial advisor. Her paternal family is Puerto Rican: her grandfather was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and moved to the mainland US when he was 17 years old. She has some Indigenous American (Taíno) and Basque heritage. Plaza's mother, who was adopted, is of Irish descent; Plaza's maternal (adoptive) grandparents were from Ireland, where their family remained, and her grandfather was also himself adopted. While her parents worked, Plaza was raised by her Irish grandparents and her Puerto Rican family.
  
  As a child, Plaza loved films and actively engaged in imaginative play. She described herself as shy and quiet until middle school, when she discovered and acted in community theater. Plaza said her upbringing was "very Catholic", and she attended Ursuline Academy, an all-girls Catholic school. While in high school, she was student-council president of her school, performed in theatrical productions with the Wilmington Drama League and the Delaware Theatre Company, and made short films as a hobby. Aged sixteen, she represented Ursuline at a Delaware youth leadership conference held by Joe Biden. As a teen, Plaza's aunt gave her a job at a video store, during which she discovered her love of independent films and filmmakers that inspired her, such as John Waters and Christopher Guest. Waters' satirical film Serial Mom (1994) made a significant impact on her, and she connected with his comedic sensibility. She also enrolled at an improv school in Philadelphia and, in 2001, attended New York Film Academy 's summer camp for filmmaking. She graduated the following year from Ursuline Academy and moved to New York. Plaza studied film and television production at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in 2006.
  
  Aubrey Christina Plaza was born on June 26, 1984, in Wilmington, Delaware. The eldest of three sisters, she was born when her parents, Bernadette and David Plaza, were 19 and 20. Plaza said she was inspired by their work ethic; when she was young, they worked various jobs to make ends meet and attended night school in pursuit of their respective professional qualifications to become an attorney and financial advisor. Her paternal family is Puerto Rican: her grandfather was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and moved to the mainland US when he was 17 years old. She has some Indigenous American (Taíno) and Basque heritage. Plaza's mother, who was adopted, is of Irish descent; Plaza's maternal (adoptive) grandparents were from Ireland, where their family remained, and her grandfather was also himself adopted. While her parents worked, Plaza was raised by her Irish grandparents and her Puerto Rican family.
  
  As a child, Plaza loved films and actively engaged in imaginative play. She described herself as shy and quiet until middle school, when she discovered and acted in community theater. Plaza said her upbringing was "very Catholic", and she attended Ursuline Academy, an all-girls Catholic school. While in high school, she was student-council president of her school, performed in theatrical productions with the Wilmington Drama League and the Delaware Theatre Company, and made short films as a hobby. Aged sixteen, she represented Ursuline at a Delaware youth leadership conference held by Joe Biden. As a teen, Plaza's aunt gave her a job at a video store, during which she discovered her love of independent films and filmmakers that inspired her, such as John Waters and Christopher Guest. Waters' satirical film Serial Mom (1994) made a significant impact on her, and she connected with his comedic sensibility. She also enrolled at an improv school in Philadelphia and, in 2001, attended New York Film Academy 's summer camp for filmmaking. She graduated the following year from Ursuline Academy and moved to New York. Plaza studied film and television production at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, graduating in 2006.