She may have been nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category this year for her work in Animal Kingdom, but Jacki Weaver isn’t yet a household name in America. But, she’ll get another shot at catching the attention of the U.S. soon, as Deadline reports that the Australian actress has joined the cast of Park Chan-wook‘s Stoker.

We don’t know who she’s playing just yet, but this is quite the prospect. With a cast that already includes Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, and Matthew Goode, it’s written by Prison Break actor Wentworth Miller (under the pseudonym of Ted Foulke), and is centered on a young girl named India who is visited by her strange uncle, Charlie, after the death of her father. Wasikowska is the girl, Goode is the uncle — a role originally meant for Colin Firth — and Kidman is the girl’s mother. Weaver should make a good addition to the picture, with her only giving the cast even more prestige. Produced by Ridley & Tony Scott and distributed by Fox Searchlight, the film is expected to get a release in 2012.

When it comes to what’s sure to be lighter fare, Variety has learned that Arrested Development actress Alia Shawkat will be starring in two upcoming films — one is He Loves Me, and the other is The Brass Teapot.

He Loves Me is the next film from Little Miss Sunshine directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and is written by Zoe Kazan. The plot focuses on Paul Dano‘s character, a struggling writer who writes about the woman of his dreams; she eventually comes to life, in the form of Kazan. Shawkat is playing Mabel, a “a cute hipster who has a crush on Dano’s character,” who is “obsessed with one of his literary creations.”

The cast also includes Annette Bening as the mother of the main character, and while Jeff Bridges was previously rumored to have a part, we haven’t heard of his involvement since. I may not have too much interest in this, mostly because I’m not a huge fan of Little Miss Sunshine, but I have to admit that the casting is turning out pretty well. I guess that counts for something.

The Brass Teapot, meanwhile, seems to be a smaller affair. An independent dark comedy directed by Raama Mosley and written by Tim Macy, the movie is about a young couple, played by Michael Angarano and Juno Temple, who are “trying to break out of poverty when they find a mysterious teapot that will grant them unlimited money in exchange for the suffering of someone else.” This sounds incredibly similar to the premise of The Box, but I hope that this can handle it better.

Shawkat has the role of Louise, a friend of the female lead. I don’t know how large the role is, but it’s just good to see her get more work, like much of her Arrested Development brethren has over the years. Her work on that show required some of the heavier dramatic lifting — which she pulled off well — and I think she deserves to show up more often in bigger fare. This isn’t bigger fare, but something is better than nothing in this case.

Are you excited for Stoker, and does Weaver’s casting only make you more excited? How do you feel about Shawkat getting more film roles?