For most of her acting career Greta Gerwig has been known only to a dedicated core of indie moviegoers as that cute girls from movies like Hannah Takes the Stairs and Baghead. But if she's looking for wider fame, she can't do much better than starring alongside Ben Stiller. Gerwig has signed on for the female lead in Greenberg, starring opposite Stiller in a story that no one really knows yet.

The movie is written and directed by Noah Baumbach, the director of New York-set, neurotic dramas like Margot at the Wedding and The Squid and the Whale. This time, though, THR reports that the story will be moved to Los Angeles. It'll be interesting to see how the setting changes the movie, since many critics take the New York setting of Baumbach's earlier films as a key element of the storytelling.

Anyway, good for Gerwig for breaking out of indie world in the gentlest way possible-- i.e., working with Noah Baumbach instead of Michael Bay. Maybe her low-key roots will inspire Stiller to tone it down a few notches, and turn in a performance a little more nuanced than what we've seen lately.