'Ruby Sparks' Trailer: 'Little Miss Sunshine' Directors Return With Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan Love Story (Video)

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Zoe Kazan, the real-life girlfriend of Paul Dano, is making her screenwriting debut with a delightfully meta film.

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In the film, Dano plays a struggling young writer who finds inspiration in a new character he's created: a 26-year old whimsical girl named Ruby Sparks, who becomes so vivid in his imagination that she actually comes to life -- and is played by, you guessed it, Kazan.

Yep: Kazan wrote a screenplay that stars her boyfriend as a writer who writes a character she brings to life.

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Making sense of all the quirk is the husband-wife directing duo of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who took the indie world by storm with their debut full feature, 2006's Little Miss Sunshine. Six years later, they're back with what looks to be a similar quirky earnestness that emphasizes frustration, love and desperation in equal doses.

Ruby Sparks hits theaters in limited release on July 25.