Ronan checking in to Wes Anderson’s latest

In theaters Friday: Lincoln, Skyfall
New on Blu-ray/DVD: 360, Your Sister’s Sister

Wes Anderson’s Billy Wilder-inspired period comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel has found its star resident in Saoirse (pronounced “Sir-shah”) Ronan. So who is she?

Born in New York City to actor parents but raised in her father’s homeland of Ireland, the preternaturally mature18-year-old actress has already garnered an Oscar nomination (for her powerful supporting role in Atonement) and worked with a stunning spectrum of talented directors that includes Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice), Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings), Andrew Niccol (GATTACA), Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) and Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society).

Certainly one to watch, Ronan spent a couple months earlier this year in Baton Rouge filming her starring role in The Host, the latest film from Twilight author Stephanie Meyer, that will see Ronan’s lead character bond with the parasitic spirit possessing her and kickoff a rebellion to help humans fight off extinction by alien possession.

With Ronan front and center, Budapest looks to return Anderson to his favorite muse: adolescence. His most successful films—Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom—were all unique meditations on youth and family, innocence, the loss of it, and the complex problems of the world seen through the honest eyes of both children and the child-like.

Ronan’s incredible versatility gives us few cues as to the tone of the new picture—will it be more screwball comedy a la Anderson’s debut Bottle Rocket, or be closer to the coming of age whimsy of this year’s Moonrise Kingdom? Either way, with the likes of Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson returning to the Anderson fold, this hotel looks to be booked with big personalities.

Watch this interview from January when Ronan talked accents and mentioned her love for comedy: