Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Christopher Abbott says being a dad ranks first amongst his life’s achievements.
The actor and his girlfriend, actress Aubrey Plaza, welcomed their baby girl in July, and he has been relishing fatherhood, putting it ahead of his Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Death of a Salesman, turning 40, and seeing the New York Knicks win the 2026 NBA championship.
On the latest episode of Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Christopher said: “When you really reflect on it like that, I got to put dad first.”
He joked: “Then Knicks. Just because I’ve been waiting. I’ve been a Knicks fan my whole life, so I’ve been waiting for that the longest.”
Christopher continued: “I didn’t necessarily want to be an actor when I was a kid, so I can’t say I’ve been waiting to get nominated for a Tony, and my cynical nature goes, ‘I didn’t win.’ You can’t really celebrate that too hard, can you?'”
The East of Eden star celebrated his 40th birthday with a surprise party, which reminded the entertainer how much his friends care about him.
Christopher recalled: “It was beautiful; it was really sweet because you forget that people like you and they show up.
“I think it’s human nature, you know what I mean?”
However, the gathering felt morbid for the Wolf Man alum.
He explained: “People get so sort of busy and caught up with their lives, and I know my friends love me, but it’s a weird thing to sort of see them all in one room. You feel like you know, again, my brain goes cynical and dark, so you almost feel like it’s a funeral.”
Christopher went on: “It was a living funeral because all these people that you know [are there], but they’re just in a restaurant.”
Turning 40 has made the Poor Things cast member think more about the bigger things in life.
Christopher said: “I think by now, at least in my work, I sort of worked long enough and feel like I’ve been around and have met and kept really good friends within the business.
“I feel sort of comfortable with work in terms of, like, it comes and it goes. … I’ve gotten more comfortable with that, but having a kid, [turning] 40, getting older, like the bigger existential things, weigh a little bit more.”
Aubrey, 42, was spotted carrying her newborn baby in New York City in August, after watching Christopher’s final performance in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
Sources told TMZ that The White Lotus star gave birth to a daughter in the final week of July.
In April, Aubrey said she could not wait to become a first-time mom, because parenting has always seemed “so interesting”.
During an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, she said: “There’s a baby inside of me right now. Yes, it’s true… I know it’s shocking, isn’t it.
“Yes [this is baby number one] … “
The baby news has given Aubrey a boost following a difficult time for the actress after her estranged husband, screenwriter-and-film director Jeff Baena, took his own life in January 2025, at the age of 47.
