Thora Birch

Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She made her film debut in Purple People Eater (1988), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress Under Nine Years of Age, and rose to early prominence as a child star with her performances in films such as All I Want for Christmas (1991), Patriot Games (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), Monkey Trouble (1994), Now and Then (1995) and Alaska (1996). Her breakthrough role came in 1999 with the highly acclaimed film American Beauty, which brought Birch to international recognition. She then played the lead role in Ghost World (2001) earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. She has appeared since in independent films, including Dark Corners (2006), Train (2008), Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009) and Petunia (2012). After taking a break from acting, Birch resumed her acting career in 2016 and played software engineer Morgan in the first season of Carlton Cuse's television series Colony, as well as starring in four independent films.