Carrie Brownstein is Taking Over for Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron lost her battle with cancer in 2012, but her legacy still looms large: beloved movies on constant cable rotation, a Broadway show released to huge acclaim, a collection of her writing published a year after her death. Since then, it's seemed like the last creations by the writer that her fans would ever see had all been released, but on Wednesday, it was announced that there's one last Ephron screenplay in the works — and that actress Carrie Brownstein will be the one to finish the script.

According to Variety, Brownstein, the star of Portlandia, will come on board to write the rest of Lost in Austen, a film about a present day New Yorker who suddenly finds herself transported into the world of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Ephron had started work on the script, based off the British TV series, during the last years of her life, but hadn't finished it before her death in 2012. Now, Brownstein is filling in, taking the likely rom-com to completion.

It's exciting to hear that Ephron fans will get one last movie from the iconic writer, especially one as promising as Austen, and the addition of Brownstein makes it even better. As Portlandia fans know, Brownstein is funny and sharp, an actress I, at least, can definitely imagine filling Ephron's shoes just fine. Still, some people might be more hesitant, considering that Austen will be Brownstein's first feature screenplay. To them, I say, here's a few reasons the two women are a perfect fit:

They're Both Drawn to Strong, Feminist Women

Ephron's characters weren't perfect — they were whiny, and self-centered, and arrogant and selfish. In other words, they were normal people, complex, contradictory women who didn't confine to Hollywood's unrealistic standards. Brownstein, meanwhile, spent the early years of her career interviewing celebrities like Karen O and Cheryl Hines for magazines. And, of course, there was her music — first Excuse 17, one of the original riot grrrl acts, and then Sleater-Kinney, a feminist icon of a band.

They Look Alike

Well, in a mother and daughter way, at least. Although physical resemblance isn't a necessity for being able to write alike, there's no denying that Brownstein and Ephron, at least appearance-wise, already have a lot in common.

They're Not Just Writers

Depending on what decade you were a teenager, Brownstein is known either as the star of Portlandia or as a main member of Sleater-Kinney. She identifies mostly as a musician, and had said that acting and writing are just side projects. Ephron, meanwhile, has always been associated with writing, but began her career as a journalist, not a screenwriter. She was also a passionate cook, putting many of her most-loved recipes into the pages of her books and scripts of her films (Julie & Julia, anyone?)

They Can Make Fun of Themselves

All of Portlandia is making fun of hipster culture, but Brownstein and her co-star, Fred Armisen, are pretty hipster themselves. Yet that doesn't stop them from tearing apart every aspect of the lifestyle, from weird haircuts to oddly specific bookstores to anything involving birds. Ephron may not have been a hipster, but she was a neurotic New York writer. And who did her films and books often skewer? Neurotic, New York writers. When it comes to self-aware, wildly funny comedy, Ephron and Brownstein couldn't be a better pair.

Images: Columbia; Getty (3); IFC