Mitchell Haaseth/NBCMaking movies isn't as glamorous as you might think.
Especially indie flicks.
Just ask a certain Parks and Recreation star about the time she got bedbugs...
Aubrey Plaza ended up with a case of the creepy parasites while filming a comedy called, of all things, Safety Not Guaranteed.
Shot on a shoestring budget in about 24 days in rainy Seattle, Plaza stars as one of two magazine editors (the other is newcomer Karan Soni) who are helping a writer (New Girl's Jake Johnson) track down a man (Mark Duplass) who claims he can travel back in time.
"It was a nightmare," Plaza told me about the bedbug bites while the cast was promoting the movie at South by Southwest at the W hotel in downtown Austin. "But, you know, it happens in hotels."
Her costars couldn't help but mess with her about it. "I thought she was just freaking out too much and giving herself hives," Duplass cracked.
Added Johnson, "I told her, 'The bedbugs seem to only bite when you have a lot of anxiety.' I think it may have just been a rash from stress."
Kidding aside, it seems to have all been well worth it. Writer Derek Connolly actually wrote Safety with Plaza in mind. It first picked up buzz at Sundance and was a must-see at SXSW. "I read it and immediately attached myself to it," Plaza said. "I had so much fun making the movie. It was a lot of fun."
And that included getting to shoot a gun. But, Plaza smiled, "we were doing it at such a fast pace, I thought I was going to shoot myself in the eye."
Hey, it certainly would have made her forget about the bedbugs.