Thora Birch Betrays Her Age
Thora Birch is one of those Hollywood kids. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Birch began her "acting career" at age four, as a pitchwoman for Quaker Oats and Vlasic pickles. After a mixed slew of TV shows, including "Doogie Howser, M.D.," Birch made her way into movies with a handful of parts in children's films. These films included "All I Want For Christmas," "Hocus Pocus" and the uproariously funny "Monkey Trouble." Birch's career continued to expand and led to roles in which she made the cinematic transition from one-dimensional child characters to more engaging and relevant teenage roles.
In her most recent film, "Ghost World," Birch portrays Enid, a recent high school graduate without plans or direction. With her best friend Rebecca, played soberly and solidly by 15-year-old Scarlett Johansson, Enid struggles to define herself through disassociation from her peers and town. The two search for something honest among the sub-cultures, alterna-cultures and fringes. Rebecca and Enid's 'elitist' delights are those which are private, ironic and honest in their intention: '70s Hollywood musicals, pseudo-retro-diners, bondage shops and monogamous Satanists. Despite the initial strength displayed by her rejection of the norms of her peers, Enid's self-imposed distance reveals emptiness and soul searching.
Despite her serious roles in both "American Beauty" and "Ghost World," Birch assures that she actually likes "all that lovey stuff," and comedies are great too. She plans on trying them both at some point, claiming, "I'm not all darkness, dammit. :)" (her smiley face, not mine). For the future, Birch is purposely taking her time in deciding on new projects. She recently starred in a movie called "the HOLE," which was released this spring in Europe. The movie revolves around four English boarding school students who discover a sealed up underground tunnel leading to, well, purported creepy scariness. This film's American release date is still uncertain.
Beyond continuing acting, Birch has other long-term goals. She says, "In the future, I would like to attempt directing. But first, I'd like to work with a larger variety of directors before I try.
There's actually something I'm thinking of producing -- we'll see where that takes me." As far as acting, Birch said she still sees more promise and possibility in the intelligent teenage roles she has taken in recent films. "I think there's still a lot I can do with the whole teenage thing so I'm not knocking it." Her criteria for new films are only that they are something she hasn't done before, or that she finds them to be "tremendously original."
At the age of 19, Birch finds herself at a crossroad in her life --both as an actress and as a nigh-adult. Outside of her future Hollywood endeavors, Birch says she plans on attending college soon and is interested in studying English Literature. Hopefully, Birch will continue her trend of strong, honest performances as she continues to advance gracefully into adulthood.
