What Nicola From Superbad Looks Like Today
It's hard to believe that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's seminal coming-of-age comedy "Superbad" is almost two decades old. Since its release in the late summer of 2007, fans of the film have watched as it cemented itself as a generation-defining teen comedy and a perfect time capsule of an era ripe for nostalgia-mining.
Arguably the greatest contribution "Superbad" had to the pop culture landscape came from its talented young cast, many of whom were introduced to wider audiences through this film and became major Hollywood stars. The cast included multiple Oscar-nominees Jonah Hill and Emma Stone, as well as Emmy-nominees Dave Franco and Bill Hader — though much of the film's success could easily be attributed to Michael Cera, whose delightfully, confidently awkward performance carries the film.
Even those actors who shared less of the spotlight had impressive careers following the debut of "Superbad," as was the case for Aviva Baumann who played Nicola. The actor went from doing the nasty with Fogell aka McLovin (Christopher Mitz-Plasse), to becoming a staple of crime dramas and independent films before bringing her career to a close. We take a look at what she is up to today.
Superbad was Aviva Baumann's breakthrough role
Before appearing in "Superbad," Aviva Baumann had only appeared in a handful of projects. After background roles in the television miniseries "The Fire Next Time," the 1994 film "Troublemakers," and a 2005 episode of "Malcolm in the Middle," she landed the supporting role of Caroline Franklin in the religious black comedy "Forgiving the Franklins." After the film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, Baumann was named one of the ten actors to watch by Premiere Magazine.
One year later, after a few more one-off gigs — including a co-starring appearance on the CBS series "Cold Case" — Baumann was tapped by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to play foreign exchange student Nicola in "Superbad." The fact that her first major role was in a film that wound up being a critical hit and a box office smash was a stroke of sheer luck for Baumann. Fortunately, she used this momentum to break out in television in ways she hadn't previously.
She guest starred on Criminal Minds
Fresh out of "Superbad," Aviva Baumann landed a gig that couldn't have been farther from the raunchy teen comedy that made her a star. In 2008, she guest starred on the long-running CBS crime thriller "Criminal Minds," commonly regarded as one of the most grizzly and disturbing police procedurals on cable television.
In Season 3, Episode 18, "The Crossing," Baumann plays Sarah Henson, a young girl whose mother Audrey (Mary-Margaret Humes) confesses to murdering her father. Though Audrey claims that she had been abused by her husband and ultimately killed him in self-defense, Sarah challenges this record by asserting that her dad is essentially their primary caregiver. She further alleges that it was likely her mother who was abusing her father and not the other way around. This account of their relationship is verified by Sarah's brother Nathan (Victor Z. Isaac) but is slightly complicated by the fact that Sarah is the beneficiary of her father's life insurance policy.
Audrey eventually does admit that her husband hadn't been abusive after all and that she killed him out of a bizarre sense of jealousy toward his relationship with their kids. Baumann played a pivotal role in this episode, bearing the full weight of its dark twist on her shoulders. In terms of substance and showing her range, it was the perfect step up from her "Superbad" outing.
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She made a star-studded comedy that will never see the light of day
From a distance, the only interesting thing about the film "Spring Break '83" is that it was never released. It was reportedly made and marketed in 2007 — around the same time Aviva Baumann was in "Superbad" — yet was only screened to one small audience in 2009. Then, despite a projected 2010 release date, the film just vanished. Once you dig into the star-power backing behind the project, however, its disappearance only seems stranger.
Alongside Baumann were big contemporary names like Morgan Fairchild, Joe Pantoliano, Erik Estrada, Lee Majors, Disney Channel star Raviv Ullman, and even a young Alan Ritchson. John Goodman and Jamie Kennedy also appear to have been involved in the film, though neither have it attached to their IMDb pages.
As of writing, "Spring Break '83" is still awaiting a wide theatrical release, though it's probably safe to say at this point that it will never receive one. Regardless of its assumed quality, it's a shame that one of Baumann's largest roles will never see the light of day — then again, maybe she prefers it that way because of its assumed quality.
She had a supporting role in Saint John of Las Vegas
In 2009, Aviva Baumann returned to the indie film scene once more — though this time under slightly different circumstances. While "Forgiving the Franklins" was a dark comedy with a cast of largely unknown actors, "Saint John of Las Vegas" was another star-studded affair that ended with a disastrous debut.
Starring John Cho, Peter Dinklage, Romany Malco, Tim Blake Nelson, Sarah Silverman, Danny Trejo, and Steve Buscemi as the title character, the film focuses on a recovering gambling addict whose attempts to better himself by fleeing Sin City ultimately send him back down the same troubled path. Baumann plays Penny, a girl Buscemi's John meets while hiding out in Albuquerque.
"Saint John of Las Vegas" was written and directed by first (and last) time writer-director Hue Rodes, a business developer who had previously only worked on two short films. Though it had all the makings of the sort of indie darling that would take Baumann's career even further, it was immediately panned by critics upon release.
She appeared on The Closer
After "Saint John of Les Vegas" proved to be a critical and commercial failure, Aviva Baumann returned to a genre that had become her bread-and-butter: police procedurals. At her age — and with her skill set — she had established herself as a reliable, believable choice to play the daughter of someone involved in the crime featured in the episode, as was the case when she guest starred in Season 5 of "The Closer."
The TNT series — led by Kyra Sedgwick and J.K. Simmons — puts a slight twist on the procedural formula by focusing on the process of "closing" a suspect. In other words, getting them to confess the crime the evidence says they committed. Unfortunately for Baumann, there's significantly less focus on the background aspects of a case that a character like hers would normally shine in. Season 5, Episode 8, "Elysian Fields," leaves Baumann with relatively little to do, and stands as little more than padding for her post-"Superbad" résumé. Fortunately, however, she would soon get the chance to play a meatier role in the genre that she had become so familiar with over the past few years.
She recurred as a young Shannon Gibbs on NCIS
From Mandy Patinkin's relatively short-lived "Criminal Minds" character Jason Gideon to the iconic gravitas of Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler on "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," the gruffly stoic crime fighter is one of the most recognizable elements of the cable police procedural formula. One of the most famous examples of this trait is found in Special Agent Leroy Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon for 19 seasons on "NCIS." Gibbs' backstory is unique in its macabre tragedy, as his wife Shannon (Darby Stanchfield) and child were murdered in a car crash orchestrated by a Mexican drug dealer she was set to testify against in court.
Aviva Baumann had a recurring role as a young Shannon Gibbs, who appeared in flashbacks in the episodes "Heartland" (Season 6, Episode 4), "Mother's Day" (Season 7, Episode 16), and "Life Before His Eyes" (Season 9, Episode 14). This role was essentially Baumann's first opportunity after "Superbad" to establish herself with an audience over time and to be associated with a single role over multiple installments of a series. This is a huge milestone for any actor, and though it's been 11 seasons since Baumann's last appearance on "NCIS," she quickly landed another recurring role on a television series.
She played Ken Marino's romantic interest on Party Down
After a raucous (and well-reviewed) first season, Starz renewed its diamond in the rough sitcom "Party Down" for a second outing. In an age just before audiences were fully saturated in shows satirizing the entertainment industry from the quasi-autobiographical perspective of burgeoning actors, this Adam Scott-led comedy turned the all-too-common day job of catering into a hilarious vehicle for its talented cast. In addition to Scott, Jane Lynch, Martin Starr, and a dizzying roster of character actors that includes Megan Mullally and Jennifer Coolidge, "Party Down" featured actor Ken Marino in a rare starring role. In a few episodes of the show's second season, Aviva Baumann played Mandy, the girlfriend of Marino's Ronald "Ron" Donald.
Sadly, as is often the case with cult-classic sitcoms, critical prestige couldn't make up for low viewership. It also didn't help that Lynch and Scott were being pulled further into "Glee" and "Parks and Recreation" respectively, two projects trending toward stratospheric popularity. The series was canceled before Baumann's recurring role could grow into a series staple, perhaps in the same vein as Maggie Wheeler's Janice on "Friends." Though "Party Down" was surprisingly resurrected in 2023, Baumann has yet to return to the series in any capacity.
She returned to procedural work with Law and Order: Los Angeles
As seems to be somewhat of a recurring pattern in Aviva Baumann's career, one project's disappointing end is followed by a return to procedural work. She appeared in "Law and Order: Los Angeles," Season 1, Episode 6, "Hondo Field" — again playing someone related (perhaps tenuously, in this case) to a person involved in a violent crime.
After oil worker Freddy Ramirez (Andres Perez-Molina) is found dead on the beach, LAPD detectives Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) and Tomas "TJ" Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll) must question those who worked with the deceased on a dangerous oil rig. Their investigation eventually leads them to Freddy's mother Lucy (Juliet Ortiz), a maid employed by the Kasdan family for several years. Stephanie Kasdan (played by Baumann) grew up with Freddy, and saw him as a brother.
Unfortunately, Baumann's "Law and Order" stint was reminiscent of her appearance on "The Closer," in that the series doesn't showcase what she normally does best. The fact that she took such a role after "Party Down" and "NCIS" is neither extraordinary nor regressive, however, as no actor experiences a linear climb from background extra to Hollywood star. In other words, it wouldn't be correct to imply that this role was a step backward in any meaningful way, and she soon broke out of procedurals once more to guest star on a sleek spy series.
She appeared in Season 5 of Burn Notice
After bouncing between supporting characters in comedic projects and grieving daughters in police procedurals, Aviva Baumann landed a meaty role on a Season 5 episode of the spy drama series "Burn Notice." Not only was Baumann a featured guest-star in Season 5, Episode 4, "No Good Deed," but she was the secret double-twist antagonist of this particular entry.
"No Good Deed" follows ex-CIA special agent Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) and his partner Max (Grant Show) as they work with arms liaison Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar) and retired Navy SEAL Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) to hunt down the technological criminal mastermind behind a string of robberies. This mastermind turns out to be Eve, played by Baumann.
After an intense cat-and-mouse game, Michael outmaneuvers Eve by shaking her confidence in her employer. When she attempts to go into hiding, she is caught off-guard by one of Fiona's explosives. Even though Baumann's character met a definitive end by the time her debut episode reached the final credits, it stands as evidence of her range as an actor — something that continued to be under-utilized to the end of her career, at least in feature film and television work.
She's acted in a number of short films throughout her career
Due to their (usually) extremely limited release, most actors of all levels of fame receive little to no recognition for their work in short films. While Aviva Baumann may have found the characters she played in her most popular projects to be largely homogenous in tone and type, she consistently stretched herself and went out of her comfort zone with roles in numerous short films throughout her career.
Even before "Superbad," Baumann had roles in interesting shorts like Prasad Paul Duffy and Jenn Shagrin's "Desperate Hippies," a comedy that followed four so-called suburban "stoner chicks." Afterward, she could be seen in Josh Miller's off-beat joyride "Waffles for Breakfast," Mark Elias' "The Juggler" (alongside Penn Badgley), the Stephen Lang-narrated "False Creek Stories," the sci-fi comedy "Earthbound," and the parodical "sequel" short "Taken 3: Back to Normal."
Though actors often take roles in under-the-radar short films to pay bills, Baumann's consistent work making these shorts also shows a certain commitment to the independent side of filmmaking.
She married Secret Life of the American Teenager star Ken Baumann
Previously, Aviva Baumann was commonly credited under the mononymous name "Aviva," or as "Aviva Farber." It wasn't until 2012 that she adopted the surname Baumann, following her marriage to fellow actor Ken Baumann.
Ken Baumann had a very similar career trajectory, appearing in several shorts and indie films before landing what was ultimately his career-defining role in "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." In the coming-of-age drama, Baumann played a high school boy whose 15-year-old girlfriend (Shailene Woodley) had recently become pregnant.
It's unknown when Ken Baumann met and began dating Aviva Farber, though it's worth noting that he was also cast in the ill-fated "Spring Break '83" fiasco. Their relationship was largely private, and the pair eventually tied the knot at a quiet ceremony in Malibu, California. Shortly after they were married, Ken Baumann was diagnosed with severe Crohn's disease, and he retired from acting in 2013. Aviva Baumann also retired in 2013, though she has stated that she wanted to leave Los Angeles and return to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Ken and Aviva Baumann shifted their focus from acting to other artistic ventures
After Ken and Aviva Baumann retired from acting in 2013, the couple kept their private life private. Ken began writing books, including the poetry collection "Eat the Flowers," a non-fiction in-depth analysis of the popular video game "EarthBound," and the novel "Stay, Cut, Map." Aviva, meanwhile, founded the earthy jewelry company Twig Works.
Working out of their new home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Baumann uses her lifelong love of woodworking to craft earrings made of salvaged wood and other recycled materials. The mission of Twig Works according to their website is to "highlight the simple and fractal expressions of wood in all its varieties” through bespoke pieces of jewelry that "[restore] the feeling of being playful and rooted."
Since October 2016, Twig Works has been featured in a few local magazines and is the primary focus of Aviva Baumann's social media presence. Baumann's woodworking prowess is not limited to earrings either — she has also made bolo ties, cabinets, artisanal shelves, and large wooden wall art pieces.