Aubrey Plaza is stepping into one of the most notorious roles of her career, playing Heidi Fleiss in an upcoming dark comedy biopic. Known in the 1990s as the “Hollywood Madam,” Fleiss ran a high-priced prostitution ring catering to Los Angeles’ elite before her 1994 state trial.
Plaza, 41, will also produce the film, which explores Fleiss’ chaotic life in the lead-up to her legal downfall.
Fleiss’ empire unraveled in June 1993, when she was arrested on charges including attempted pandering. She was later convicted and served 20 months of a seven-year federal sentence for tax evasion.
The film focuses on Fleiss, now 59, in the months before her trial, as she teams up with a writer named Jaclyn in a desperate scheme to blackmail her powerful connections into getting the case dropped.
The project marks Leah Rachel’s directorial debut and will be produced by Jessamine Burgum and Kara Durrett’s Pinky Promise production company, alongside Plaza’s own Evil Hag. Filming is set to begin in Los Angeles in the coming months, with a release date yet to be announced.
The role will be Plaza’s first major project since the death of her husband, filmmaker Jeff Baena. Baena died by suicide on January 3rd at age 47, and his body was discovered at his Los Angeles home by a dog walker.
Plaza, who had separated from Baena in September 2024, addressed the loss days later. “This is an unimaginable tragedy,” she said in a statement obtained by People on January 6th. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support. Please respect our privacy during this time.”
In 2014, Baena made his directorial debut with Life After Beth, a zombie comedy starring Plaza. The film follows Zach Orfman (Dane DeHaan) as he grapples with the bizarre return of his deceased girlfriend Beth Slocum (Plaza), who comes back as a zombie.
The project took Baena years to bring to life, with Plaza helping push it into production. She was drawn to the role because it allowed her to play a “more physical character.”
“The emotional undercurrent is definitely something that attracted me to the screenplay,” Plaza told The Skinny in September 2014. “I’d never really read anything like that before, and I thought it was really unique how the movie felt really emotional, it felt like a metaphor for a break-up, and those are the things that stuck with me."
She continued, “And I thought it would be fun to play a more physical character. I’ve never really done that before, and I liked the challenge of trying to figure out the different stages of turning into a zombie and how that manifests physically in your body.”