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Thora Birch was meant to be a boy named Thor, after the Norse god of thunder and lightning. To her parents� surprise, a girl popped out, so they did the only sensible thing and added an �a� on the end. While Thora claims not to dig too deeply into herself, it may just be that she isn�t willing to reveal what lies there. Instead, we catch glimpses of the storm brewing within when we see her act, which seems to be the way she likes it. Performing all her life, she�s grown from playing a Quaker Oats girl at five to perfectly capturing the archetypal sullen, alienated suburban teen Jane in American Beauty. This spring, she�ll play the archetypal uppity, angry alienated suburban teen Enid in the upcoming Ghost World (directed by Terry Zwigoff (Crumb) and co-written with Dan Clowes). In the meantime, Thora will "climb astride a mammoth gold wyrm" to defend her kingdom in the film Dungeons and Dragons, and play her darkest role yet in the British film The Hole. All this darkness can be too much for a girl, and now Thora�s looking to lighten up, do a comedy, and have some fun�but all I wanted to talk about was teenage angst.

Goddess of Thunder
Thora Birch
By Andy Hunter photography by Steven Dewall

THORA ON ADOLESCENCE, AND HER CHARACTER IN GHOST WORLD, ENID COLESLAW

Did you find many similarities between Enid and yourself?
Myself, in thought, perhaps, but not in action. I could relate to where she was mentally, but I never would act out or say half the things she does. That was part of the draw for me: I could finally act out all these horrible, evil thoughts I had in my head.
Part of her character is that she changes her look over and over again. Despite being the consummate outsider, she is looking for a way to define herself and feel comfortable.
I think she wants to find the weirdest possible place that everyone else will like. She wants to be an individual, and she thinks that she loves the fact that she�s an outsider. It is interesting that she is constantly trying to change herself as well as find something that�s kind of acceptable to society. She wants society to look at her and say, "Okay, that�s unique and that�s original and that�s weird, but we still like it." That�s what she wants. She does want acceptance, but in a very peculiar, abnormal way.

Do you think that�s something that every teenager goes through to some degree?
I�m not sure. I think teenagers, like all people, have differences among them. Some people are very happy to find their little clique where they fit in, and they want to be trendy and they want to be liked in that way. As far as searching for acceptance, that�s general. But the way in which we want that acceptance is constantly changing.
But it�s also something to help you accept yourself: to feel "this most fits who I am internally." Like if you decide that you�re "punk."
I don�t know, this is getting into the area that I personally don�t understand. I don�t understand that thing that�s "I can like myself now" or "I know who I am now" or "I found myself." I don�t understand that. I don�t know who I am, I don�t want to know, and I don�t have any problems not knowing who I am. I�m just happy not really thinking about that. I don�t want to typify myself in my mind.

Does that mean that you�re comfortable with yourself?
I don�t feel that I need to go walk off and go in search of who I am. I don�t want to be one way. I want to be all over the place. Especially as an actress, I want to be adaptable and be able to understand all sides of an issue, or a feeling, or anything. It�s difficult sometimes.

Do you feel that every little thing you might want to do is magnified because it might end up in People? Like, if you dyed your hair green on a whim, got a stupid tattoo, or went "Goth?"
I wouldn�t care what they thought, but then again I wouldn�t do anything like that in the first place. Those are things that people do to feel that they know who they are and that they have found themselves. I guess it�s one of the things I couldn�t relate to Enid about, but I could understand from the point that she was searching�yes, to find acceptance from herself�but really from other people as well.

So are you more mature in that way? Or, do you think that because you�ve been in home schooling most of your teenage life, you weren�t as exposed to the pressure of cliques in high school, being an outsider, or being ridiculed?
That�s bullshit. That shit starts right away. That crap starts in late elementary school and junior high, and I went to public school for all those ages. It starts immediately and you can feel it�you can feel it coming on and it�s really bad. It�s really not healthy. But I think it�s only really bad if you cannot find where to go�and I never could. I was constantly out. I just didn�t get along with other kids. I mean, I got along with them, but I always felt that maybe they didn�t like me as much as they liked each other, and I know that I certainly didn�t get them in any way. So it was very awkward. I mean, we could chill and we could play and that would be fine, but there was something missing there behind the scenes going on that I wasn�t in on. Maybe it was only a simple matter like someone would call someone after school. You know, the phone was a big thing in junior high. Everyone goes home and gets on the phone. No one ever called me. Things would happen; next day, they�d be like, "oh, so-and-so broke up." I�d be like, "when? They were just going out yesterday!" They�d be like "oh, last night." "How do you know about it?" "Oh, so-and-so called me." I was like, "oh." I wasn�t in on those things. It�s ridiculous, but �

So is that all over now?
It stopped when I left. It stopped when I left junior high and finished eighth grade. Freshman year of high school I did home-study, and I couldn�t have been happier with the outcome of that.

Because you grew up as an actress, and you�ve been doing it forever, do you feel like you ever had the chance to make a decision that this is the life that you wanted to lead?
Oh, yeah. There�s an age between 13 and 15 where�s there�s just no work, people don�t know what to do with you. You�re too old to be running around with dogs out in the forest, and you�re too young to be thought of as a genuine Lolita or something like that. The other problem is that you personally are so fucked up at that age�maybe not guys but at least girls�it�s like you are feeling every little emotion there is in the universe all at the same time.

They�ve done studies ranking girls� self-esteem, and when they�re 12, it�s at like 76%; and at 13, it drops to like 28%.
Yeah, they�re the most precious, smart people; then two years later, they�re slicing themselves.

Do you feel like you have to make some sacrifices to live this kind of life?
Yeah. You�ve got to be on your toes 24/7. I don�t have the freedom of Enid. I do when I�m portraying Enid though, so that�s nice.

But if you started acting up, causing scenes and playing pranks on people? �
I could do it, but do I want the circumstances that come along with that? No. I�m in a business and living a life that is not conducive to that.

But you�re attracted to edgy roles. There�s something in your personality that you can act out through them.
I�m naturally attracted to them. Whenever I read a script and come across a character like that, I�m like, "yes!" But then again, as an actress, I still have to control myself in the roles that I choose. I could very easily play every little dark or edgy or raunchy character that came along, but to me that�s not the full experience of acting. Acting is being different people than who you are or who is your alter ego�because everyone has an alter ego. But are you going to constantly only portray your alter ego, or are you going to really force yourself as an actress or actor to do completely different things? Right now, I�m in the mood for something light and fluffy because of the three films that I�ve got coming out. Even if their characters aren�t all completely dark, the genres are; two of the characters are both really dark�Ghost World and The Hole. Now it would be nice to see if I could pull off something where I smile and look wide-eyed all the time.

THORA ON DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS

Now, Dungeons and Dragons is something you got involved in before American Beauty came out, right?
I shot it right after I finished shooting American Beauty, and I did it because � I don�t know, I got to fly a dragon, man�play the Empress.

Had you heard of the game when you read the script?
No, I had never even heard of Dungeons and Dragons. I just thought it was a great title! I hadn�t even heard of the game until I mentioned it to my friends, and they were like, "oh my God, you�re doing Dungeons and Dragons?!" And I�m like, okay, there�s obviously something going on here that I�m not aware of. But what really made me want to do it was the director, Corey Solomon. He had been working on getting that film made for nine years, but when I met him he was still as hyped up and as energetic and as ready to do it as if he had just read the script the night before. His intensity for that project was so catching and admirable that I just wanted to work with him.

So you liked the script? You didn�t think it would just be a gimmick film?
I liked the part of the Empress. Her character was something I hadn�t done. Coming off of American Beauty kept me in this really dark place for a while, and to be able to do the Empress�who is really doe-eyed and wants to fight for the people and give them freedom�it was good for me to force myself to have that optimism again. Playing Jane really took every little ounce of optimism in me and just flushed it down the toilet. To force myself to be like, "no! The people need freedom!" was good.

Well, you know that taking that role will make you the poster girl for all the pale and pasty nerds of America. Your website activity is going to explode.
I know. It�s already kind of starting, which is fine. Maybe not; maybe it will come out and no one will go see it, but the buzz on it is pretty good and basically the audience for it is all the internet freaks and kids. And that�s cool. I like internet freaks; they�re all right by me.

On a website devoted to the movie (dndmovie.com), it says that you�re "a lawful, good, seventh-level mage with skill in dragon riding and aerial combat."
[Laughs] I�m the Empress! Yeah, I�m a mage, but I�m the Empress! But you�re a young empress. I guess seventh level�s not so bad. Seventh level. Yeah, she�s an unseasoned Empress.

So are you going to be a character in video games based on the film?
I know New Line picked it up, and they�re planning to do this whole franchise thing based on it, but I don�t know. If I have a doll, though, I�m just going to piss my pants with laughter. I�ll sleep with it�at least one night. [Laughs]

Read the entire interview in Mean Magazine Issue 11

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