Jeff Baena Remembered as ‘Sweet Jewish Boy’ by Friend Adam Pally

Adam Pally is reflecting on the life of his friend and frequent collaborator, Jeff Baena.

The 42-year-old actor — who worked with Baena on his 2014 directorial debut Life After Beth, 2016’s Joshy and 2017’s The Little Hours — dedicated an Instagram tribute to the late filmmaker on Sunday, Jan. 5, calling him a “sweet Jewish boy from Miami,” “collaborator,” “mentor” and “the scrappiest basketball player with the ugliest jump shot you ever saw.”

Baena, who was married to Aubrey Plaza, died at age 47, on Jan. 4. Sources told TMZ that an assistant discovered him at a Los Angeles-area home a day prior. According to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner, the manner of Baena’s death was ruled a suicide.

“He was 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 continued to write of Baena. “An overly gracious host with an almost disturbing open door policy, a film encyclopedia, and most importantly to me a friend.”

Describing his work as a filmmaker, Pally said Baena “strove for truth” and that “nothing could sound, look or feel inauthentic” — which he said was a “direct representation of who Jeff was. Authentic.”

“You never worried that Jeff wasn’t telling you the way it is,” he continued. “Cause Jeff’s virtue was telling you the way it was.”

“My 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,” Pally added. “Thanks for believing in me Jeff, may your memory be a blessing.”

Pally appeared alongside Plaza, 40, as well as Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Matthew Gray Gubler, John C. Reilly and others, in Life After Beth back in 2014. He later took on a larger role in Joshy (and also served as producer on the project) before teaming up again with Baena on The Little Hours.

Alison Brie, who has worked with both Baena and Pally, left a broken-heart emoji in the post’s comments section.

Beyond his work with Pally, Baena co-wrote the 2004 film I Heart Huckabees starring Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law and Naomi Watts. He also directed other projects, including 2020’s Horse Girl, 2022’s Spin Me Round and his 2021 anthology series Cinema Toast, which he created and which also marked Plaza’s directorial debut.

Plaza and Baena, who met in 2011, worked on multiple projects together before Plaza announced in 2021 that they wed. Speaking with PEOPLE in 2019, Plaza shared some insight into the pair’s relationship.

“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,” she said. “So I think that can be really great. But, you know, working with your partner can always be challenging. There’s a lot of things we do separately and I think that it’s all about balance.”

“I think that one of the great things about our careers is that we are forced to be independent, take little breaks, go off and do our things and come back,” Plaza added. “So it’s kind of fun. Nothing is ever the same. You don’t want to spend too much time apart. But I think that there’s a way that it can work and there’s a balance in that.”