Thora Birch is an American actress. She made her film debut with a starring role in Purple People Eater (1988) and won a Young Artist Award for "Best Actress Under Nine Years of Age". Birch rose to prominence as a child star during the 1990s through a string of parts in films, such as Paradise (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995), and Alaska (1996). Her breakthrough into adult-oriented roles came with her portrayal of Jane Burnham in American Beauty (1999), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
Birch received further acclaim—and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress—for starring as Enid Coleslaw in the cult hit Ghost World (2001). Her other film credits during the 2000s included Dungeons & Dragons (2000), The Hole (2001), Silver City (2004), and Dark Corners (2006). Birch took a break from acting after producing and starring in Petunia (2012). She returned in 2016 and has since appeared in various independent films, such as The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) and The Chronology of Water (2025).
On television, Birch played the title role in Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story—for which she received an Emmy nomination—and the recurring role of Gamma / Mary on The Walking Dead (2019–2020). She made her directorial debut with the Lifetime film The Gabby Petito Story.
