Adam Pally Pays Tribute to “Authentic” Jeff Baena After Director’s Death: “My Heart Breaks”

Adam Pally is among those in Hollywood remembering late director Jeff Baena, who died Friday by suicide at the age of 47.

Baena was a writer-director who helmed such indie films as Life After Beth, The Little Hours, Horse Girl and Spin Me Round, often working with wife Aubrey Plaza. The pair married in 2020 after being together for 10 years.

Pally and others who knew Baena have taken to social media over the weekend to share their memories of him, after the news of his death broke early Saturday morning.

On Instagram Sunday, Pally wrote, “Jeff Baena was a sweet, Jewish boy from Miami. He was a collaborator, a mentor, the scrappiest basketball player with the ugliest jump shot you ever saw.”

The actor, who starred alongside Plaza in Baena’s films Joshy, The Little Hours and Life After Beth, called Baena a “talented director with impeccable taste and vision.”

“He was a connector of people, a fosterer of possibility, the guy who knows where the best restaurant was no matter where you were,” Pally added, continuing with, “an overly gracious host with an almost disturbing open door policy, a film encyclopedia, and most important to me a friend.”

Pally, whose credits include the Sonic the Hedgehog movies and TV show Knuckles, The Mindy Project, Dirty Grandpa, The To Do List and A.C.O.D. went on to honor Baena as someone truly “authentic” in both his work and his personal life.

“As a director Jeff strove for truth,” he wrote. “Nothing could sound, look or feel inauthentic, and that is a direct representation of who Jeff was. Authentic. You never worried that Jeff wasn’t telling you the way it is. Cause Jeff’s virtue was telling you the way it was.”

In closing, Pally wrote that his “heart breaks for my friend Aubrey and the Baena family and for all of us who spent time on his sets or at his house or in his orbit. Thanks for believing in me Jeff, may your memory be a blessing.”

Molly Shannon, who starred in four of the movies Baena directed (Life After Beth, The Little Hours, Horse Girl and Spin Me Round) posted a carousel of photos of herself with Baena and others involved with those films, on- and off-set, captioning the images with a broken heart emoji.

Shannon also commented on Pally’s tribute, writing, “Adam this is the best tribute and describes jeff perfectly. His movies were so original. He was a brilliant writer and director and on top of that so visual with an amazing eye. And so kind and thoughtful bringing everyone together (almost always in Italy!!!) his work lives on. His memory lives on forever.”

Life After Beth actor Dane DeHaan also remembered Baena on his Instagram stories. And Alison Brie, who starred in several of Baena’s films, posted several photos of herself with him on her Instagram stories, again using a broken heart emoji.

Both Searchlight Pictures and Sundance also remembered Baena via their official social media accounts.

Read on to see how Hollywood is remembering Baena.