Thora Birch is an American actress. She got her first role at the age of 6 in the short-lived sitcom Day by Day; that role was followed by an appearance in the motion picture Purple People Eater, for which she received a Young Artist Award for "Best Young Actress Under Nine ...
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominations
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie, BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, MTV Movie Award for Best Dressed, MTV Movie Award for Best Line, Satellite Award for Best...
Movies
American Beauty, Ghost World, Hocus Pocus, Now and Then, Monkey Trouble, The Hole, Patriot Games, Winter of Frozen Dreams, Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, Clear and Present Danger, All I Want for Christmas, Dungeons & Dragons, Dark Corners, The Pregnancy Pact, Alaska, Petunia, Purple Peop...
TV Shows
Parenthood, Day by Day
Star Sign
Pisces
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Quote
1
I just felt like I was making people angry, because I wouldn't wear the frilly bows. I just didn't take advice and I think people got pissed off at me for not taking advice.
2
(On being fired from Election (1999)) I read the script one way and it became clear that he (Alexander Payne) had seen something else, so that was it. I just thought, this is ridiculous: why is it written this way?
3
I pissed a lot of people off over a long period of time and they found a way to upset me, hoping that upset would bring a change in my behavior. Like a distancing ... But I'm done, I'm done. People wanted me to be not fine. A lot of it was bullshit.
4
I tried to walk a fine line between being alluring and somewhat glamorous but maintain a strong identity and pursue things that were a little more thoughtful, and I guess nobody really wanted women to do that at that time.
5
[on her nude scene in American Beauty (1999)] It was very, very difficult for me to come to terms with it in a personal way. Creatively, I was solid. I understood the importance and significance of that scene and I had known in advance that it was going to happen. As you can imagine, I had spoken with the director, Sam Mendes, and we both agreed it was not a gratuitous scene, rather a very realistic moment in Jane and Ricky's relationship.
6
If I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, I look in the mirror and see the most vile creature. But if I'm feeling comfortable about myself, then I'm more accepting. I'm not like, "Oh my God! look at that gorgeous person." It's just like, "Yeah, okay. That's doable."
7
For me, romance isn't an over-the-top act. It's someone offering to help and to support me. Or if that person thinks I'm making the wrong decision, he'll tell me. I want him to be honest, because being that honest takes a lot of guts.
8
I admire Jodie Foster. Her head is screwed on really well. It's not loose at all.
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Fact
1
She was scheduled to make her NY stage debut in an off-Broadway revival of "Dracula". Four days before the play was supposed to open, Birch was fired and asked to leave the theater immediately, due to interference from her manager/father. He had been supervising every detail of his daughter's performance during rehearsals. When he saw another actor giving Birch a back rub, he demanded that the actor stop. The actor in question explained that he was following directions from the play's director. Reportedly, he told the actor, "Listen, man, I'm trying to make this easier on you - don't touch her". The actor felt that Birch's tone was threatening. This led to her being terminated.
Was actually only 16 years old at the time she was filmed nude for a scene in American Beauty (1999). She told TV talk show host Craig Kilborn when she appeared on his show in 2002 that her parents didn't have a problem with her doing a nude scene, despite her being under age, and they encouraged her to go ahead and do it. They agreed that her character's nude scene was so important to the development of her character that they gave their approval.
15
Gained 20 pounds for her role in Ghost World (2001).
Used to live on her family ranch in East Los Angeles.
19
Does her own stunts.
20
Her parents, Jack Birch & Carol Connors, thought that she would be a boy, and planned on naming the child Thor, after the Norse God of Thunder and Lightning. When she was born, however, her parents feminized the name and called her Thora.
$8 Million
