Wissenswertes

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.

Does her own stunts.

Her parents, Jack Birch and Carol Connors, both appeared in supporting roles in Deep Throat oder: Der Mund, der alle Wünsche befriedigt (1972).

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 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.

Gained 20 pounds for her role in Ghost World (2001).

Her maternal grandmother was the daughter of Polish immigrants, and her maternal grandfather was of French-Canadian, Irish, and German ancestry.

Has a Green Belt in Karate.

Appeared in Moby's video "We Are All Made Of Stars" (2002) and "Eat You Alive" by Limp Bizkit (2003).

The family's surname was originally said to be Biersch, of German-Jewish origin. Her ancestry also includes Polish, French-Canadian, German, Irish, Italian, and Scandinavian.

Has co-starred with Chris Cooper in two movies, Silver City (2004) and American Beauty (1999), but has never appeared onscreen together with him.

She got her first role at the age of 6 in the short-lived sitcom Day by Day (1988).

She was originally cast as Tammy Metzler in Election (1999), but was fired due to creative differences with Alexander Payne. Jessica Campbell replaced her.

One of the commercials she did at age of 4 was 'Just say no' for an anti drug campaign.

She auditioned for the role of Natalie in Evil Dead (2013).

Along with Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones and Anne Archer, she is one of only four actors to play the same character in more than one film in the "Jack Ryan" series. She played Ryan's daughter Sally in Die Stunde der Patrioten (1992) and Das Kartell (1994).

Used to live on her family ranch in East Los Angeles.

She bested 4,000 young hopefuls to land the role of Billie Pike in Sommerparadies (1991).

Some of Thora's special skills include skiing, dancing, cycling, and kayaking.

She was originally cast in the lead role in The Quiet - Kannst du ein Geheimnis für dich behalten? (2005), but dropped out. Camilla Belle replaced her.

Older sister of Bolt Birch.

Was a contributing director for sketch comedy group The Doomed Planet.

She was offered the role of Marissa in Zyzzyx Rd (2006), but she turned it down.

Born on exactly the same date as Lindsey McKeon (of Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993) fame).