A stage actor gone rogue and grammatically-correct tweets. Fresh-faced Gillian Jacobs might just be a maverick. She’s also our new It Girl.

Widely known to T.V. fans for her turn as Britta in the NBC series Community, Jacobs seemed destined for acting ever since her childhood in Pittsburgh. But the theatre was her first passion.

[What’s a PEOPLE TO WATCH feature without a comparison? The beautiful Gillian Jacobs reminds us of Kelly McGillis and Elizabeth Banks.]

After an auspicious start on home turf (she first appeared in a play at the tender age of eight) Jacobs landed a role in the Philip Seymour Hoffman-directed The Little Flower of West Orange after spending a few years at Juilliard.

After what she described to interviewer Janet Varney as a “traumatizing experience” there, Jacobs set her sights on television and film acting.

[Listen to Gillian Jacobs being interviewed by Janet Varney on Nerdist]

In 2007 she played a runaway in the Adam Rapp-directed Blackbird.

Several features films later Jacobs is on her way to A-lister status. With the very successful Community nearly achieving cult status, Jacobs has gotten plenty of visibility, inspiring fandom to claim her as cinema’s next big thing.

What made us awestruck is also that the darling Pennsylvanian hasn’t shied away from challenging roles: in Blackbird, the runaway later becomes an exotic dancer; Jacobs has also played a heroin addict on stage (playing these parts is one thing, going through months of preparation is another.)

Jacobs will appear next in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, sharing the marquee with Steve Carrell and Keira Knightley.