Thora Birch Returns: How the 'American Beauty' Child Star is Conquering Acting and Directing in Her 40s

In the '00s, Thora Birch, who started out as a charming child star in films like Hocus Pocus and Now and Then, successfully transitioned into more mature roles, with acclaimed performances as edgy teens in American Beauty and Ghost World. While she continued to act through the 2000s, she kept a lower profile, leaving her fans, many of whom strongly identified with her performances as outsiders, wondering if she would ever make a comeback.

As it turns out, at 42, Birch is keeping busy, with multiple projects lined up, and she’s even stepped behind the camera. Here’s a look at how she got her start and what she’s been up to in recent years.

Thora Birch’s unique childhood and rise in Hollywood

Thora Birch was born into the entertainment industry, but not in the way you might think. Her parents, Jack Birch and Carol Connors, were both former adult film stars, and because of their own experiences, they were skeptical about letting their daughter act. It was only once a babysitter noticed Birch imitating commercials that they recognized her natural abilities as a performer and started sending her on auditions. At just 4 years old, she got her first job in a cereal commercial.

More commercials followed throughout the '80s, and she made her film debut in Purple People Eater in 1988. That same year, she joined the cast of the sitcom Day by Day. She continued appearing in TV episodes, and in the '90s, she racked up an impressive collection of film credits, including Paradise (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993) and Now and Then (1995). 

From child star to angsty young woman

By the end of her teen years, Birch already had dozens of films to her name, and she reached a turning point in her career when she played an angsty high school girl in the hit 1999 drama American Beauty. Her role in the 2001 dark comedy Ghost World earned rave reviews and made her a cult favorite for artsy, thrift store-dwelling girls everywhere.

After Ghost World, Birch received an Emmy nomination for her role in the 2003 TV movie Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story and appeared in the films Silver City (2004), Slingshot (2005), Dark Corners (2006), Train (2008), Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009) and Deadline (2009). The majority of these films were independent and didn’t get as much attention as her earlier work, and after starring in the 2012 movie Petunia, which she also produced, she stepped away from acting for a few years.

Thora Birch makes her comeback

While Birch admitted in a 2014 interview with The Guardian that she “decided to take a break and live my life, branch out a little, educate myself,” she also said, “I was always working, it's just that no one was paying attention."

Birch came back in the 2010s, appearing in two episodes of the show Colony in 2016. She then showed up in the 2018 films The Competition, The Etruscan Smile and Affairs of State and had a small part in the well-reviewed 2019 indie movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Since then, she’s appeared in Kindred Spirits (2019), Above Suspicion (2019) and 13 Minutes (2021).

Like many actors, Birch also found work in TV, appearing in nine episodes of The Walking Dead from 2019 to 2020 and guest starring in Mayfair Witches in 2023. In 2022, she starred in the narrative podcast Overleaper. 

Birch soon stepped into directing, making her debut with The Gabby Petito Story in 2022. In addition to directing the Lifetime true crime movie, Birch also played Petito’s mother. 

In an interview, Birch revealed she wanted to direct since she was 10 years old, and said, “The way I pursued my acting career was that I wanted to try all genres, do a little bit of everything. With directing, I don’t have a mapped-out plan. I’m not looking to only do certain types of film or have a tonal calling card. While I do respect so many directors who do have that, I think I’d like to be playful in the same way that I was with my choices in my acting career.”

Birch has stayed true to this vision, and in 2023, it was announced that she’d be directing an adaptation of the Elmore Leonard crime novel Mr. Paradise. Her post-production projects include The Chronology of Water, the highly anticipated feature directorial debut from actress Kristen Stewart. 

While we don’t yet know when Mr. Paradise and The Chronology of Water will be released, we’re excited to see Thora Birch’s new projects as a multitalented actress and director.

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