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Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress, producer, and director. She made her feature film debut in 1988 with a starring role in Purple People Eater, for which she received 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 earned a nomination for that year's 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), and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work in the television film Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. Subsequent film credits included Dungeons & Dragons (2000), The Hole (2001), Silver City (2004), Dark Corners (2006), and Petunia (2012). Birch took a break from acting between 2012 and 2016, but has since had parts in several independent features, such as The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019). She played the role of Mary (aka "Gamma") on the tenth season of AMC's The Walking Dead (2019–2020).

In 2022, Birch made her directorial debut with the television movie The Gabby Petito Story for Lifetime. She will make her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel Mr. Paradise, making her the first woman to direct a Leonard adaptation.

Early life
Birch was born in Los Angeles to Jack Birch and Carol Connors, former pornographic film actors who both appeared in the film Deep Throat. She is of German-Jewish, Scandinavian, French-Canadian and Italian ancestry. Her forename is derived from that of Norse god of thunder and lightning, "Thor", which would have been her name if she had been born a boy. She has a younger brother, Bolt Birch.

Because of their own experience with the entertainment industry, Birch's parents were reluctant to encourage her to act, but were persuaded to show Birch's photograph to talent agents by a babysitter who noticed her imitating commercials. Birch got her first big break at the age of four, when the babysitter accompanied her to a successful audition for a Quaker Oats commercial.