Aubrey Plaza says she was mistaken for new Tomb Raider on 'Fallon'

Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Actress Aubrey Plaza appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about her upcoming projects and revealed a surprising connection to the Tomb Raider franchise.

The Wilmington, Del., native went on the show Monday night, primarily to promote her upcoming crime drama film Emily the Criminal.

Plaza described Emily the Criminal as a film about "a woman...who becomes a criminal" with heavy student loans.

"She's kind of drowning in debt, she has a criminal record," Plaza said of her character. "But she can't get a job, and she's basically tipped off to do this illegal crime thing, like a scam, kind of thing...and she finds out she's kind of good at it."

The role features Plaza in a number of action scenes. When Fallon asked if Plaza would ever consider being in additional action-based roles, the actress revealed that her part in Emily the Criminal had actually gotten her mistaken for another iconic character.

After a recent appearance on the cover of MovieMaker magazine, Plaza said her friend, director Edgar Wright, "saw [the cover] and texted me and said, 'Oh my god, you're the new Lara Croft? You're the new Tomb Raider?'"

"And I was like, 'No Edgar, that's my movie Emily the Criminal,' and he genuinely thought I was cast as the new Tomb Raider," Plaza added. "And then I looked it up, and they are casting this role right now, and I was like, 'Well there you go. I'm the new Tomb Raider, whatever.'"

Plaza also spoke about filming the highly anticipated second season of HBO's drama The White Lotus, in which she will guest star. It comes out in October.

When Fallon read HBO's description of Plaza's White Lotus character -- "a woman on vacation with her husband and his friends" -- Plaza said that she was "playing against type."

"I would never do that," Plaza joked about going on vacation. "I would never."

Plaza said she had ended up in the series due to her long friendship with show creator Mike White.

The second season of The White Lotus was shot primarily in Italy, and Plaza said she had been in the country for nearly a year, shooting The White Lotus and an upcoming film directed by her husband, Jeff Baena, called Spin Me Round.