Thora Birch was a child actor who seemed to be making a successful transition into more mature roles. For a brief time, she seemed poised for a long and exciting career. And then almost immediately, that career dried up. These days, she is known for being fired from a Broadway play and having an over-bearing father/manager. Birch has been banished to direct-to-video schlock and Lifetime movies. Recently, there was an internet rumor that she was dead.
What the hell happened?
Birch comes from show biz parents. Jack Birch and Carol Connors were “adult film stars”. They both appeared in infamous porno, Deep Throat. They named Thora after the Norse god of thunder. Her younger brother is named Bolt. Presumably after a thunder bolt rather than the animated dog.
Must have been an interesting childhood. Reportedly, Birch’s parents were reluctant to let their daughter get into show biz. Given their histories, it’s easy to see why.
Eventually, a nanny talked them into auditioning their daughter for commercials. Here is Birch shilling Quaker oatmeal with Wilfred Brimley. She also appeared in commercials for Burger King, California Raisins, and Vlasic Pickles.
In 1988, at the age of six, Birch landed a role in the short-lived sitcom, Day by Day.
After the success of NBC’s family comedies, The Cosby Show and Family Ties, TV was awash in wholesome situation comedies. Growing Pains was a cheap copy of Family Ties. And Day by Day was a knock off of Growing Pains. The cast included Birch, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
That same year, Birch appeared in Purple People Eater. The family film starred Neil Patrick Harris, Ned Beatty and Shelley Winters.
In the late 80’s and early nineties, Birch made guest appearances on TV shows like Doogie Howser (pictured above), Married People and Amen.
From 1990-1991, Birch appeared in the first TV adaptation of the Steve Martin movie, Parenthood. Despite good reviews, Parenthood only lasted one season.
Birch returned to the big screen in 1991 in the country drama, Paradise, which starred then-married couple Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Birch was joined by child actor and future hobbit, Elijah Wood.
Johnson and Griffith played a couple who are struggling with the loss of their young son. Wood played a boy who comes to stay with them for the summer. Birch played a neighborhood kids who befriends him.
Reviews were negative and the movie opened in sixth place at the box office behind The Super.
Later that year, Birch starred in the holiday not-so-classic, All I Want for Christmas. She played a precocious child with an elaborate scheme to have Santa Claus reunite her divorced parents.
Believe it or not, this was a real movie that was actually released in theaters and not some basic cable movie of the week. Currently, All I Want for Christmas has a rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In 1992, Birch appeared opposite Harrison Ford and Anne Archer in Phillip Noyce’s adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel, Patriot Games. Ford replaced Alec Baldwin in the second Jack Ryan film. Birch played Ford’s daughter. The plot centered around Ryan’s family being placed in jeopardy.
Patriot Games received mostly good reviews and was a hit at the box office.
In 1993, Birch appeared opposite Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in the Halloween not-so-classic, Hocus Pocus.
Hocus Pocus was originally inteneded to be a cheap Disney Channel movie of the week. But someone got the idea to cast Middler and release it in theaters. In spite of the larger budget, it still feels very “basic cable”. It got bad reviews and flopped at the box office.
Surprisingly, Hocus Pocus has developed a cult following over the years. It has become an annual stable on the Disney Channel, where it probably belonged all along.
In 1994, Birch starred opposite Harvey Keitel and a Capuchin monkey in Monkey Trouble.
Someone assumed that putting a cute kid and a monkey on screen together would be box office gold. But Monkey Trouble received mixed reviews and disappointed at the box office.
Later that year, she reprised her role as Sally Ryan in Ford and Noyce’s final Jack Ryan film, Clear and Present Danger.
Reviews for Clear and Present Danger were better than they were for Patriot Games and the movie was the biggest hit of the series.
In 1995, Birch appeared as part of an ensemble in Now and Then.
Now and Then told the four childhood friends who reunite as adults to relive the summer of 1970 when the girls bonded in a tree house. Demi Moore played a science fiction author who narrates the film. Rosie O’Donnell played the tomboy of the group. Christina Ricci played her character as a child. Rita Wilson played the pregnant friend who still lives in her family home. Birch’s character grew up to be her Paradise co-star, Melanie Griffith.
O’Donnell said that originally her character was meant to be a lesbian. But dialogue was later lopped in to give her an off-camera boyfriend. Moore’s daughter, Rumer Willis, played her character’s younger sister. Kirsten Dunst was offered a role as Rita Wilson as a child but she turned the part down when she learned she would need to gain weight. The supporting cast included Cloris Leachman, Hank Azaria, Bonnie Hunt, Janeane Garofalo and Brendan Fraser in an uncredited cameo.
Critics panned the sappy coming-of-age drama. Roger Ebert dismissed it as a “gimmicky sitcom”. Despite the critical drubbing, Now and Then opened in second place at the box office behind Get Shorty. It went on to gross nearly $30 million dollars on a $12 million dollar budget. Over time, the movie has developed a cult following and at one point there was talk of turning it into a TV series.
In 1995, Birch played a trouble teen with telekinetic powers in an episode of the sci-fi anthology series, The Outer Limits.
In 1996, Birch starred in the family adventure, Alaska. The movie is about a couple of children who search the Alaskan wilderness for their lost father. Despite positive reviews, Alaska flopped at the box office.
In 1997, Birch appeared in a couple of TV shows. First, she appeared in an episode of the Gerald McRaney show, Promised Land.
Later that year, she played a teen at a camp where several kids are contemplating suicide because they ar HIV positive on Touched by an Angel. It’s up to Roma Downey and Della Reese to save the day.
Birch took a couple years off from acting after these two shows.
In 1999, at the age of 17, Birch returned to acting in the TV movie, Night Ride Home.
The movie was based on the novel of the same name by Barbara Esstman. Rebecca De Mornay and Keith Carradine played a married couple living on a horse ranch. When their son is killed in a horse riding accident indirectly caused by their daughter (played by Birch), the couple must come together to deal with the loss.
Birch was originally cast in a supporting role in Alexander Payne’s comedy, Election. She left the movie after three days of shooting due to the dreaded “creative differences”. According to Birch:
I read the script one way and it became clear that he had seen something else, so that was it. I just thought, this is ridiculous: why is it written this way?
Later that year, Birch had a star-making role in Sam Mendes’ award-winning drama, American Beauty.
Birch played a high school cheerleader who is mortified when her dad, played by Kevin Spacey, starts flirting with her best friend played by Mena Suvari. She also has a creepy boyfriend played by Wes Bentley who has an obsession with filming everything.
In spite of being under age, Birch filmed a nude scene. (Just try to do an image search without finding it.) Hard to imagine her parents signing off on that one… Okay, maybe not.
American Beauty got great reviews and won several awards including Best Picture. All of the young actors were surrounded by buzz. Even Bentley. All of the awards hype helped make Beauty a box office smash. But all of the film’s stars would struggle to duplicate its success.
Birch also had a small, uncredited role in the Natalie Portman/Susan Sarandon drama, Anywhere But Here.
The following year, Birch had a supporting role in the indie film, The Smokers.
Later in 2000, Birch played royalty in the fantasy film, Dungeons and Dragons.
D&D was based on a popular role playing game familiar to nerds everywhere. The cast included Marlon Wayans and Jeremy Irons who was cashing in big time on his Oscar win.
Reviews were terrible and the movie flopped. Fanboys who had waited for decades for a D&D movie wept openly.
In 2001, Birch starred opposite a then-unknown Keira Knightley in the British horror movie, The Hole.
The film centers on four friends who skip a school field trip in favor of a private party in an abandoned bunker. Things go horribly wrong as they are locked in the bunker and no one knows where they are.
The story is told in flashbacks as Birch’s character slowly works through the trauma. Each time she tells the story, the tone changes and new details emerge.
The Hole received mixed reviews, but it’s worth checking out on video or Netflix.
Later that year, Birch starred opposite a then-unknown Scarlett Johansson and the always terrific Steve Buscemi in Terry Zwigoff’s indie comedy, Ghost World.
Birch and Johansson played friends whose lives go in separate directions during the summer after high school. Birch’s character befriends a lonely middle-aged man played by Buscemi. She spends the summer trying to set him up on dates. Trust me, it’s better than it sounds.
In spite of really good reviews, Ghost World wasn’t a hit at the box office. However, it has developed a cult following. One more richly deserved than Hocus Pocus.
After Ghost World, Birch retreated to TV movies. In 2002, she starred in the Fox horror show, Night Visions. Her episode was collected into a TV movie which aired on the Sci Fi Channel (back when they spelled it the right way.)
In 2003, Birch turned to Lifetime for the TV movie, Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story.
As Lifetime movies go, it must have been pretty good as it was nominated for several Emmys including one for Birch.
In 2004, Birch had a small role in John Sayles’ political comedy, Silver City. Chris Cooper played a George W. Bush surrogate. Birch played an assistant to an underground reporter plated by Tim Roth.
Silver City was released while Bush was running for re-election. But it received an exceptionally limited release. It played in 162 theaters in the US. Reviews were mixed.
In 2006, Birch stared in a direct-to-video horror movie called Dark Corners. Birch played two characters each of whom believes the other is a dream.
Birch continued her career in direct-to-video horror schlock with Train in 2008. It was basically Hostel set on board a train.
Train was originally slapped with an NC-17 rating before being cut down to an R.
In 2009, she starred opposite Brittany Murphy in the horror film, Deadline.
Birch played a ghost who haunts Murphy as she tries to finish a screenplay before her deadline… thus the title.
Also in 2009, Birch starred in the crime drama, Winter of Frozen Dreams.
The New York Post broke the story of Birch’s father crashing the movie set to oversee the filming of her sex scenes:
“It was so wrong,” said one insider. “The director is saying, ‘Harder! Faster!’ and the father is giving Winters the thumbs up.”
Jack Birch was on the set every day giving orders – even telling director Eric Mandelbaum where to place his camera so that Thora would look her best.
Mandelbaum was about to shoot the first sex scene when, “all of a sudden, the front door is being kicked in. Her father was threatening to kill the assistant directors. Then he threatens to pull her from the movie with three days of shooting left.”
Making matters worse, a problem with the focus on the camera necessitated 14 takes.
“It was the most bizarre, perverse scene,” said our witness. “One girl on the crew broke down crying.”
With Birch’s career already in freefall, the last thing she needed was bad press about her father/manager making her hard to work with.
In 2010, Birch starred in her second Lifetime movie, Pregnancy Pact. The movie was based on a real life news story about a group of high school girls who apparently made a pact to get pregnant together.
Believe it or not, this was one of the highest-rated movies on Lifetime that year. Who watches this stuff?
Later that year, Birch’s career was dealt a crippling blow. 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.
Once again, Jack Birch 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, Paul Alexander.
Reportedly, Jack Birch 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 lead to Thora Birch being terminated, The New York Times ran the story. Since then, Birch has been virtually exiled.
So, what the hell happened?
It’s hard enough for a child actor to transition into more mature roles. Birch seemed to be making that transition better than most. But any chance she had was ruined by her father who has developed a reputation of being a nightmare to deal with. She’s like Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie: No one will hire her.
As an adult actress, Birch now has a curvy look that would certainly be in demand for all kinds of sexy roles. But Birch and her father seem to have a very strange relationship with her on-screen sexuality. Sometimes pushing it to its limits and other times threatening an actor for touching her. I’m not saying that Birch should be pursuing steamy, R-rated movies. But certainly she has the kind of sex appeal that if used properly could make her a big movie star. Instead, she remains a former child star and a Hollywood exile.
Birch gave her take on her career woes in a 2014 interview with The Guardian:
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.
So according to Birch, audiences just weren’t ready for her? Well, she admits there was a bit more too it than that:
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.
Why does Birch feel people were angry? Here we get back into some self-delusion I’m afraid:
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.
I don’t think people were angry over a lack of bows. But maybe that’s just me.
So sad that this poor girl’s promising career was derailed by her dad like that. I developed a crush on Thora thanks to “American Beauty” & the 2 Jack Ryan films she was in. I hope things get better for her down the road.
Jack Birch seems like a real character. The stage parent from hell. I won’t blame him for derailing her career per se. For one thing, she probably never would have been as successful as she was without her dad pushing her. And her career probably would have sunk as she reached adulthood as it does for most child actors. But at this point, he’s definitely doing her way more harm than good.
As I was researching Birch and her dad, I kept thinking aboult Culkin. I have been reluctant to cover child actors, but I imagine I will make an exception for Culkin eventually.
Given his childhood, I’m kind of impressed by how he turned out. There was no doubt he’d be weird, but he’s not knocking over gas stations yet. I consider that a victory of sorts.
My impression of the “Purple People Eater” song was that the monster only ate people who are purple. That would make anyone I know personally safe from being devoured. I could see myself retreating from my own career if my parent was acting that way. There is a tendency for exactly that to happen with child actors when the parents are too involved. Birch just made it to legal adulthood first. Unfortunately, that makes the situation partly her own fault. If she wants to continue her career in acting (who knows, at this point she may be ambivalent about it),… Read more »
That must be why they needed to make a movie. To explore the questionable eating habits of the Purple People Eater. It makes sense now. From the most recent interviews I read with Birch, she defends her dad’s behavior 100%. Apparently she had a run-in with a stalker at some point in her career and it left her fearful. In her Dracula contract, it was stated that she was allowed to have a body guard around her at all times. Her dad was the body guard. At her age, it makes sense for Birch to pull away from her parents… Read more »
Thora Birch’s creepy ex-porn star dad gets her fired: http://www.avclub.com/articles/thora-birchs-creepy-exporn-star-dad-gets-her-fired,49037/ It hasn’t been easy being Thora Birch, whose career since her breakout turns in American Beauty and Ghost World has lately tapered into a string of questionable choices. But things might be a tad easier for her were it not for her dad-slash-manager Jack Birch, a former adult film star (he and Birch’s mother, Carol Connors, were both in Deep Throat) whose insistence on being present at his daughter’s every performance has been noted as overbearing at best and creepy at worst. Most recently, there was the incident where Jack… Read more »
6 Insane Reasons Formerly Famous People Dropped Off the Map: http://www.cracked.com/article_20500_6-insane-reasons-formerly-famous-people-dropped-off-map.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=new+article&wa_ibsrc=fanpage #6. Thora Birch Stops Getting Work Because of Her Creepy Dad The Fame: Most of you remember Thora Birch from American Beauty, but she was already kind of a big deal by age 8, winning the Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age award (yes, that exists) for a movie called Purple People Eater. Then her stardom peaked as a teenager with those breakthrough performances in American Beauty and Ghost World. In other words, she made the oh-so-rare jump from “cute kid” roles to “serious Oscar-winning dramas” and… Read more »
Wow.. I feel sorry for her. Upon first seeing her name in the polls my first thought was, WHO The hell is this as opposed to What the hell happened… and then I remembered, Oh yeah American Beauty. I hadn’t realized she had always been around as a child actress. It does sound her career was about to take off and her dad needs to take a major step back. Beyond being a “stage parent” though he just sounds a little off. So protective yet allowed her to be filmed topless at age 16? That doesn’t really go together, hollywood… Read more »
That’s the reaction I typically get. Who? Oh American Beauty. Yeah. What happened to her?
I didn’t realize she had such a long career as a child actor either. I remember watching her cheesy sitcom and the Jack Ryan movies, but I never really took notice of Birch until AB and Ghost World. And then she was gone just like that.
Her dad seems like he’d sell his daughter into slavery to benefit himself. I have read descriptions that make him sound like a biker Charlie Manson.
I’m somewhat ashamed to admit this… but I just watched the “Day by Day” clip in its entirety. By the time I got to “All the Brady men have perms…. so our hair doesn’t get in our eyes when we’re fixing our bikes!” there was real danger of my spitting coffee all over the keyboard. I had forgotten all about Day by Day – and you are so on the money, it was a ripoff of Growing Pains which was the successor to Family Ties…which by the way were all good shows! For some reason Day by Day, also a… Read more »
I remember the episode and that it was fun. It was kind of the prototype for the Brady Bunch movies that followed. Christopher Daniel Barnes even played Greg Brady in the movies. I haven’t rewatched the episode in its entirety yet myself, but I probably will eventually. I wouldn’t want to go back to the days of the 80’s family sitcom. But I do have a soft spot for them. I watched them pretty reguarily as a kid. My parents were very strict with what was and wasn’t allowed on the TV. I remember certain episodes of Family Ties being… Read more »
Perhaps another factor was that by the late ’80s, we got more dysfunctional and cynical type of domestic sitcoms like “Married…with Children” and “Roseanne” (and you can also put “The Simpsons” in that category even though it’s animated). Even popular more “traditional” ’90s era sitcoms like “Home Improvement” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” arguably had a bit of a sadist streak to them.
TV definitely grew up. It used to be that 8:00 was always “family hour”. These days, there is no family hour.
I get the impression her folks are kind of out there. They named their son Bolt. As in “thunder bolt”. As in “god of thunder”. They had a Norse god theme naming their kids. That’s just odd.
Whatever Happened to Thora Birch?: http://gogorama.blogspot.com/2010/12/whatever-happened-to-thora-birch.html About ten years ago, Thora Birch was a young actress on the come. She had a memorable supporting role in the Oscar-winning Best Picture, American Beauty, and then two years later gave an assured performance in Ghost World, my favorite film of 2001. She was not yet twenty, and stardom seemed assured. But what happened? I haven’t had much call to think about her since then. Last week she was in the news for being fired from an off-Broadway production of Dracula (too bad, if she were in it I’d go to see it).… Read more »
Thora Birch: Latest victim of the ‘American Beauty’ kid-star career curse?: http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/04/14/what-happened-t/ Remember how fantastic Thora Birch was in American Beauty? And Ghost World? It really felt like she was going to be the Next Big Thing. Kinda like Wes Bentley. And Mena Suvari. Hmmm. I’m beginning to see a Beauty alum pattern. But now Birch is doing Z-grade schlock like Winter of Frozen Dreams (probably my favorite Huh? film title since Bruce Willis’ Tears of the Sun), a true-life crime drama where she plays a prostitute turned murderer. The trailer for the flick, costarring Keith Carradine(!), just recently popped… Read more »
“Remember how fantastic Thora Birch was in American Beauty? And Ghost World?” No, she was just good. Can’t we separate the huge talent of the moviemakers from the competence and pleasant appearance of the largely stone-faced young actress?
You’re not wrong. But at the time, seeing her in those roles where she was well-cast, the material gave the impression that she was a promising actress. Having seen her give stone-faced performances in a dozen or so movies since, it’s obvious where her talent level is.
Ghost World, or Whatever Happened to Thora Birch?: http://jamesmortonthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/01/ghost-world-or-whatever-happened-to.html Whilst recently rummaging through an old box of DVDs, I had the fortune of coming across Ghost World. I’ve seen it before, of course – not during its initial cinematic run – but after buying it a number of Christmases back. It’s easy enough to see why the film received such critical acclaim in 2001. Based on the comic book by Daniel Clowes and named for some graffiti the illustrator spotted, Ghost World is nihilistic commentary on the wasteland of late twentieth century America, a frank, potently bleak look at the… Read more »
Whatever Happened To?: http://www.bigthoughtsfromasmallmind.com/2010/06/whatever-happened-to.html Thora Birch The fact that Mena Suvari ended up having the better post American Beauty career ahead of Wes Bentley and Thora Birch is shocking. I have nothing against Suvari personally, I just cannot fathom why Thora Birch is not a bigger name right now. She was consistently good as a child actor and now is the point where her career should really be taking off. Clearly Birch has been a good luck charm for many actors/actresses whom have worked with her. Keira Knightly, Elijah Wood, Scarlett Johannson, Christina Ricci, Gaby Hoffman, and Mena Suvari have… Read more »
Hahah this is a great article. My quesion before reading was WHO the hell is the thora birch. I’ve literally never heard of her (though I actually have seen ghost world)
Wait scratch that…American Beauty! She’s great in that yet somehow I totally forgot about her!
Glad you enjoyed it.
Audiences have a short memory. After American Beauty and Ghost World, I thought Birch had a bright future. But then she disappeared and I forgot about her like most everyone else. Years later, I started hearing about her dad causing trouble and I filed that info away for a rainy day.
You wonder if Thora’s daddy dearest is the the splitting image of Brooke Shields’ mama before
Brooke found the courage to break away from her? Wonder why Thora hasn’t found a way to
put her foot down and finally say enough to him?
She defends her dad first and foremost. Maybe it’s family loyalty. Maybe it’s brainwashing. But I get the impression if Birch had to choose between her dad and her career, she would chose her dad. You could argue that is exactly what happened.
Future of Movie Stars: Who Will Shine? Who Will Fade Away?
http://forums.previously.tv/topic/7750-future-of-movie-stars-who-will-shine-who-will-fade-away/page-8#entry707040
She definitely needs to pull a Jodie Foster or Brooke Shields and fire him.
But this sounds so much worse . If she was actually OK with what he was doing there, then yeah it’s probably too late for her. I just can’t imagine any grown up wanting a parent hanging around at all for those scenes, not to mention making such a spectacle.
A stage parent even worse than Dina Lohan,perhaps???
Don’t make me pick the lesser of those two evils.
Defending a stage parent like Thora’s doing is kinda like a tea partier defending their party over country,don’t you think?
Disneycember: Hocus Pocus:
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/specials/41742-disneycember-hocus-pocus
I fell in love with her in Monkey Trouble. Given that we’re the same age(1980s), I have no problems with that. 😛 Maybe someone needs to slap her dad with a clue by four that he is no longer famous(except for being the ass that she keeps losing roles because of), nor in control.
Didn’t her mum have a part in the original Deep throat?
Now how can you go wrong than
Both of her parents did. Quite a distinction.
There’s a write-up in Yahoo on why Thora fell out of favor,so check for that!!!
“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… 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.”
That’s one way of looking at it.
re: “…because I wouldn’t wear the frilly bows.” Jeez, that’s even more “surreal” (i.e., delusional) than Meg Ryan “walking away from Hollywood” (after her ph #/e-mail was cleared from assorted databases) and wanting to “live the simple life” in New York City (a town known for its down-to-earth and laid-back ways). But hey, maybe she — like Paquin, Sutherland, and others who’ve had lukewarm/cooled-off movie careers — can “re-invent” herself in TV. Believe it or not, I’m not even a fan, but she did some fine work back-when and I wish her luck. She needs to ditch her dad as… Read more »
I have a hard time imagining anyone trying to force frilly bows on an adult actress. Maybe this is a carry-over from her child actor days when she wore lots of frilly outfits. I’m sure there were directors who wanted to sexualize her. But then, she has also done that herself.
re: I’m sure there were directors who wanted to sexualize her. But then, she has also done that herself. Like some/too many actresses, Birch likely wants it both ways: To be TAKEN SERIOUSLY as an actress and/or not be viewed as a “sex kitten/object” while exploiting her sex appeal/beauty when it’s convenient to do so. One of the BEST ‘letters to the editor’ I’ve ever read was in ROLLING STONE in response to their K. DUNST article wherein she appeared on the cover in Victorian underwear: [I paraphrase but it’s close] “Dunst doesn’t want to be seen as a sex… Read more »
OOPS – I meant to type “in ‘Machete Kills'” above.
I wonder how many actresses actually believe this stuff when they say it. My guess is, it’s just something they feel they have to say or a convenient excuse after their career fails to take off.
Won’t wear the frilly bows????
Well that’s a way of getting blacklisted of sorts,to be honest!!!!
She said repeatedly that she pissed a lot of people off, which is true. But I don’t think it was due to lack of bow wearing. She is correct in that she failed to pull off the delicate balancing act of being edgy/sexy without objectifying herself. But the way she says it makes it sound like she took the high road. Which is a strange perspective when she did a nude scene at 17 and then made a bunch of steamy and/or bloody movies.
Also, I don’t think Dungeons and Dragons was exactly “a little more thoughtful”.
“Denial” ain’t just an Egyptian river, dig?
😉
re: the way she says it makes it sound like she took the high road YES, that’s sort of common these days: Make verbal noises to give the impression of “taking the high road” while being self-serving all-the-while. Another sterling example: In the news recently: http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/31/news/economy/wolf-wall-street/index.html WELL, that’s so NICE of him…but didn’t the Courts ORDER or REQUIRE him to make restitution? Belford makes it sound like he’s “giving” — what a swell guy! I guess he isn’t the slimy, selfish pr*ck of a con-man that movie made him out to be! I hope he remembers to “reimburse” the non-millionaires… Read more »
The Guardian newspaper actually has an interview with her here today (1/24/14) –
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/23/thora-birch-hollywood-darling-disappeared
I comment and get replies from the writer- my tag is Phillyguy.
Yep, that’s the full interview that was being circulated on Yahoo. It’s a good read if not especially enlightening. I also read your comments back and forth with the author. I share your desire to get more straight-forward answers out of Birch. But I also understand where the interviewer is coming from. She was trying to create a portrait of he subject which I think she was successful in doing. Every interview I have seen with Birch whether it was in writing or “live” she doesn’t give straight answers. I think she’s somewhat delusional about how and why her career… Read more »
I do sympathize with Ms Freeman- it probably wasn’t easy- and she even brings up the possibility of libel when the subject of her father’s behavior comes up (the UK has tough libel laws)
But- in a way- I think she gave Birch enough rope to hang herself with- which maybe Freeman was happy with- but I would have liked for Birch to have saved herself- she didn’t.
Ms Freeman was replying back to me as fast as possible- it was interesting-
I’ll bet. Seems like you had a spirited conversation.
I do think it’s pretty obvious from Birch’s evassive answers what is really going on. So yeah, she got enough rope to hang herself.
Fortunately, I’m not held to the same professional standards. So I’m free to speculate all I like. 🙂
She said during the chat that she’s looking for an agent at this point………a sad price to
pay for having a medding daddy to manage her fortunes,perhaps????
Too little, too late. Especially if her dad is still sitting on the sidelines.
Would you think of Thora as a cross between Linda Fiorentino & Alicia Sliverstone,to a point?
That’s an interesting mash-up. Care to elaborate?