Support NeoGAF

[Sho_Nuff82]

Remember the actresses from Ghost World and American Beauty? She's apparently not retired, still living in Hollywood, and currently looking for an agent.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/23/thora-birch-hollywood-darling-disappeared

As much as it's usually easy to criticize the Hollywood establishment for chewing people up or being afraid of change, she really comes off as confrontational and difficult to work with. I mean, Election wasn't perfect, but for a 16 year old actress to tell director Alexander Payne that he was reading his own script wrong...what did she expect. Add to that the stories of her father/manager being a complete psychopath on set, and you have recipe for a short career. Reading her blog, she seems both bitter at the establishment while wishing she was still a part of it.

 

[strafer]

She reminds me of Ellen Page

 

[Valhelm]

I was going to see her in an Off-Broadway play some years ago, but she quit because her porn star father started shit.

 

[Tom_Cody]

She reminds me of Ellen Page

Does she have a similar reputation?

 

[strafer]

Does she have a similar reputation?

No no, i meant in terms of looks.

 

[Loxley]

Maybe she's just waiting for that Dungeons & Dragons sequel.

 

[otapnam]

give in and do TV? Plenty of movie actors are going the tv route these days

 

[Tom_Cody]

No no, i meant in terms of looks.

Gotcha

 

[The_Hitcher89]

Got her confused with Thora Hird, was confused as to why The Grauniad would bother with such an article

 

[Nander]

Apparently, her dad was over-protective and controlling in all the wrong ways:
http://www.cracked.com/article_20500_6-insane-reasons-formerly-famous-people-dropped-off-map.html

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

I was going to see her in an Off-Broadway play some years ago, but she quit because her porn star father started shit.

Just looked up the actress who was her understudy (Emily Bridges, daughter of Beau Bridges), I guess since then she's actually been in a few decent gigs, including Masters of Sex recently.

 

[shira]

She had gigantic breasts and was trying to get a boob job. That never made sense to me in American Beauty.

 

[lednerg]

Her dad was an ex porn star who would lurk on set while she was doing nude scenes, creeping everyone out.

 

[Stet]

She had gigantic breasts and was trying to get a boob job. That never made sense to me in American Beauty.

There were a lot of things in American Beauty that made absolutely no sense.

 

[Sol..]

After reading about what her dad did during the filming of Winter of Frozen I can see why people don't want her pops around.

 

[MrPing1000]

Always had a huge thing for her, I've mentioned her a few times on neogaf when talking about actors that disappeared. She is fantastic in Ghost World, super hot too (And Scarlett Johansson was still a scrawny teen)

I basically just want to see her boobs again.

 

[GungHo]

Her dad was an ex porn star who would lurk on set while she was doing nude scenes, creeping everyone out.

Her mom was also a porn star.

I imagine she had a strange childhood. I know I would have a strange adulthood if all I had to do to see my parents fucking various people was to run a search on xHamster.

 

[Valhelm]

Just looked up the actress who was her understudy (Emily Bridges, daughter of Beau Bridges), I guess since then she's actually been in a few decent gigs, including Masters of Sex recently.

Unfortunately, she was as forgetful in Masters of Sex as she was in Dracula. I wouldn't be surprised of her dad got her the former role, given that he plays a major character in the same TV series.

 

[jtb]

she was in Election? I completely forgot this. time to go watch it again, I guess

 

[Oppo]

She had gigantic breasts and was trying to get a boob job. That never made sense to me in American Beauty.

There were a lot of things in American Beauty that made absolutely no sense.

The point was that she thought she was ugly, even though she wasn't.

And American Beauty is great

 

[akira28]

I'm still a fan. She probably needs to break away from creepy-dad though.

 

[richiek]

she was in Election? I completely forgot this. time to go watch it again, I guess

No, the article said she was fired from the film.

And Ghost World is one my favorite films. Hard to believe Thora Birch looked hotter than Scarlett Johansson back then.

 

[Cronox]

I have had the Ghost World DVD from Netflix sitting on my coffee table for a couple months now. Suppose it's time to give it a watch.

 

[solpadeine]

Dumb article. Nobody wanted to work with her anymore. No big mystery.

 

[Napoleonthechimp]

The author of that article loves replying to comments...

Dumb article. Nobody wanted to work with her anymore. No big mystery.

It seems like her weirdo father did her no favours.

 

[OverBlood 3]

I remember she would just let you add her on facebook at some point, that probably got a bit much though. I think she's great personally.

 

[Durask]

Apparently, her dad was over-protective and controlling in all the wrong ways:
http://www.cracked.com/article_20500_6-insane-reasons-formerly-famous-people-dropped-off-map.html

Reading this:

#1. The Phantom Menace Makes Jake Lloyd Hate Star Wars, Acting, and Life

The Fame:

Jake Lloyd only had one big film role, but goddamn, what a role. At 8 years old, Lloyd was cast in what at the time was perhaps the biggest role a child actor had ever landed: He would play Anakin Skywalker, aka Young Darth Vader, aka the timeless pop culture icon, in the fourth film of the most successful franchise in human history. Yes, he had landed the coveted lead role in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Considering that, before this, his biggest role was as the annoying toy-hungry kid from Jingle All the Way, this was a career-making event.

What could possibly go wrong?

But Then ...

Of course, you know that despite grossing over a billion dollars, the movie would go down as one of the most universally hated things in the history of civilization ... and a lot of the irrational rage from fans crashed down on the little kid. Reviews of his wooden performance were overwhelmingly negative, with Newsweek referring to him as "Mannequin Skywalker," because insults just feel better when targeted at children.

"We tried directing our nerd vitriol at Lucas, but honestly, it's just too easy."

It wasn't just magazines and pissed-off fanboys either; Lloyd's schoolmates bullied him mercilessly, treating him to an endless barrage of obnoxious light saber "whoosh" sounds whenever he entered the room (even though he never actually used a light saber -- kids are not only cruel, but bad with fact checking). As the years wore on and more bad prequels followed (which he had nothing to do with), the backlash only got worse. Finally, Lloyd snapped, destroying every piece of Star Wars memorabilia he owned. Lloyd appeared in one more film and then gave up acting for good.

He also gave up being a happy, nice person. He blames the role for ruining his life, despises video cameras, and bristles with barely contained rage whenever somebody even mentions Star Wars. Even when he's at a sci-fi convention full of, you know, Star Wars fans. Just plain don't talk to him; otherwise, this happens:

Yes, he apparently stopped finding Star Wars jokes amusing after hearing the same one for the five-millionth time. Come on! Where's your sense of humor?

I must say...this sucks.
Fanboys are vile.

 

[G-Fex]

Reading this:


I must say...this sucks.
Fanboys are vile.

they're always vile, they ruin everything

 

[Symphonia]

The only thing I remember about her is her fantastic rack.

 

[johnsmith]

She's just an old washed up Alison Pill.

 

[solpadeine]

Speaking of Ghostworld. Terry Zwigoff's career went down the shitter after Art School Confidential. Another real shame. http://www.avclub.com/article/terry-zwigoff-to-mount-comeback-with-two-new-films-99660