Thora Birch, a name that once echoed through the halls of Hollywood, has had a career that can only be described as a rollercoaster ride. From her early days as a child star to her sudden disappearance from the limelight and her recent resurgence, Birch’s journey is a fascinating tale of talent, resilience, and the harsh realities of Hollywood.
Birch had a successful string of movies across the 90s, and a bit into the 2000s, but then it seemed she softly faded into the background. But was it because Thora had enough of the spotlight, or did Hollywood have enough of Thora?
The Rise of Thora Birch
Born to former adult film actors, Thora Birch began her acting career at a tender age.
Already an acting pro by the age of four thanks to commercials for Burger King, Quaker Oats, and Vlasic Pickles, by six years old she had landed a part in the series Day by Day in 1988.
Later that same year, Thora would win a Young Artist Award for her film debut in the Neil Patrick Harris family-friendly sci-fi movie Purple People Eater.
Birch’s career exploded in the 90s, starting with her role as Sally Ryan in the Harrison Ford-led action thriller Patriot Games.
She would follow that up with everyone’s favorite Halloween movie Hocus Pocus, where she played the annoying little sister Dani Dennison. In 1994, Thora would reprise her role as Sally Ryan for Clear and Present Danger.
By the mid-90s, movies like Now and Then and Alaska would start to move Birch into more leading roles, and by 1999, with the success of the Oscar-winning American Beauty, Thora was a household name. Her role as Jane Burnham in the dark dramedy landed her multiple nominations and earned her a SAG award, among others, and poised her career for endless possibilities.
After a few misses and flops, Birch starred in the 2001 black comedy Ghost World, with a cast that included Steve Buscemi, Scarlett Johansson, and Brad Renfro, and would add more nominations and awards to her name.
The Fall
Despite her early success, Birch’s career took an unexpected turn. After “Ghost World,” she found herself in a string of barely-seen projects.
Reports of explosive on-set behavior began to surface, casting a shadow over her promising career.
Thora was fired from the Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick comedy Election in 1999 after only three days, due to differences between her and the director.
Two highly publicized incidents involving Birch’s father and then-manager, Jack Birch, further complicated her public persona.
First, during the filming of the 2007 indie film “The Winter of Frozen Dreams,” Jack allegedly threatened the crew and demanded to be present for her sex scenes on an otherwise closed set.
Another incident occurred when Birch was fired from a 2010 off-Broadway production of “Dracula” just four days before the show opened.
The director cited that the decision had nothing to do with Birch’s acting abilities but was due to her father’s behavior.
While we may think Thora just wasn’t in anything for a few years, she says we just weren’t paying attention.
In a time before #metoo and the slightest bit of evening out between male and female roles in Hollywood, Thora said she tried to walk that line between bombshell and intelligence, but found roles for that type of female weren’t there.
Birch stated that people tried to steer her here and there, but she didn’t want to hear it, opting to direct her career the way she wanted, which made some people upset.
What is Thora Birch Doing Now?
Despite these setbacks, Birch did not give up on her passion for acting. After taking some time off to earn a legal studies degree online and explore herself as an adult, she decided to return to the spotlight.
In 2018 she played Emily in the award-winning movie The Etruscan Smile, and followed that up with a reoccurring role on the hit zombie series The Walking Dead as Gamma.
She fulfilled her lifelong goal when she took on the role of director for The Gabby Petito Story in 2022, which she also acted in. Having wanted to direct since she was 10, it was nice to see her check that off her list, even if the story matter was less than pleasant.
We all know how huge of a hit the Netflix show Wednesday is now, and Thora was originally a part of it all. She was cast – and shot the scenes – in the role as Wednesday’s dorm matron, Tamara Novak, before having to return to the US due to personal reasons and drop out of the project.
This was on top of another recent blow when Birch couldn’t be in Hocus Pocus 2, which hit Disney+ in late 2022. She had originally planned on being in the sequel, but after some rewrites and other parts shifted, Thora was shooting something else and couldn’t make it to set.
But Thora isn’t letting that derail her comeback. She has one project in post, a drama titled The Midway Point, and one really fun movie in the works, Hurricane Bianca: The Roots of All Evil, where she will get to play the ultimate baddie in the comedy.
Being unapologetically Thora has never looked better. While we wait for her new projects to hit our screens, we’ll give our classic Birch favorites a rewatch.
