Golden Globe nominee Aubrey Plaza has developed an animated project for Prime Video that not only showcases her creative range but is drawn directly from her personal life. The series, titled “Kevin,” premieres Monday, April 20 on Prime Video — and the story behind it is just as compelling as the show itself.
“Kevin” was co-created by Plaza alongside Dan Murphy and Joe Wengert — the latter being Plaza’s ex-boyfriend. The two wrote the series together, drawing from real events in their shared past.
Plaza recently revealed on ABC’s “The View”: “Joe and I, a long, long time ago, lived in Queens — which is where the show is set. We actually had two cats, Kevin and Howard, and we adopted them from a mob family.”
Plaza described the experience of pitching the series to Amazon, Netflix, and other major studios as “really weird” and ultimately “cathartic.”
“Pitching the show was a really full-circle, crazy moment,” she said. “I was 19 when I met Joe. It kind of felt like couple’s therapy — but 20 years later, in front of Amazon, Netflix, and everyone. And we’re not a couple. This is like an acid trip for me. A lot going on.”
Jason Schwartzman leads the voice cast as Kevin, a cat who ends up at a Queens pet rescue shelter after his owners unexpectedly break up. There, he bonds with a band of misfit animals voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, John Waters, Amy Sedaris, and Aparna Nancherla. Plaza herself voices Dana, Kevin’s person.
The guest roster is equally impressive, featuring Quinta Brunson, Charles Melton, Joe Locke, Addison Rae, Tig Notaro, Nicole Byer, Patti LuPone, Debby Ryan, Maria Bamford, and Cary Elwes, among others.
In an increasingly competitive streaming landscape, Prime Video continues to invest in original content that is both critically positioned and culturally resonant. An adult animated series with an A-list voice ensemble and an authentic emotional backstory reinforces Prime Video’s push into prestige animation — a space where streamers are spending aggressively to court adult audiences.
Plaza, already a bankable star off the back of “The White Lotus” and “Parks and Recreation,” taking on a creator and producer role here reflects a broader industry trend: established actors leveraging their platform to move into ownership positions behind the camera.
“Kevin” is available to stream Monday, April 20, exclusively on Prime Video.
