You may have spent the latter part of 2022 watching Aubrey Plaza as Harper battle it out with her husband, Ethan (Will Sharpe), in Sicily on The White Lotus. But this year, the Delaware native also participated in a quiet indie crime-thriller that showcases her range. Emily the Criminal follows a college graduate living in Los Angeles who’s saddled with student debt and cannot find work. She’s brought into a credit card scam, acting as a dummy shopper who makes increasingly risky purchases with stolen cards. Below, Plaza discusses learning how to commit credit card fraud for the role and why casting a woman as an antihero is a novel (and refreshing) idea.
What was the filming process like for Emily the Criminal?
We shot the movie in 21 days—in fact, 20 days in Los Angeles, one day in Mexico. It was a run and gun, down and dirty, kinda gritty shoot, and the spirit of the production really mirrored the spirit of the script and the story.
In this film, your character commits credit card fraud. Did you learn how to do it?
I did. There are YouTube tutorials that show you how to make fake credit cards, fake IDs, all kinds of fake things. The machines are easy to get—you can buy them on eBay!
Emily is a complicated character. She’s not easy to like.
Emily is an antihero. And those characters are usually reserved for men. Think of Taxi Driver. That’s because audiences are so conditioned to like female characters. Why aren’t the women likable enough? Approachable enough?…
