Thora Birch, coming out of the dark side

Thora Birch has made her name playing angsty and obsessive teenagers, but she's not stuck on the dark side, the young star tells CATHRIN SCHAER.

Dark hair, an unconventional beauty and a bad attitude. No wonder Thora Birch is the alternative pin-up chick of the moment. She's also been described as having the trailer trash scowl of Juliette Lewis crossed with the dark seductiveness of Christina Ricci.

But Birch doesn't like being compared to Ricci, another dark-haired, quirky ex-child star. "It's unfair to both of us," she complains, "and it really kind of drives me mad."

As for the former description: "That's not nice. Why would you say that?"she demands somewhat crossly, acting more than a little like one of the characters she has played recently; "Because of two or three roles?"

The roles she is talking about are Jane Burnham, the truculent teenage daughter of Kevin Spacey in the Oscar-sweeping American Beauty; and now it's Liz, another rather dark adolescent who stars in The Hole, a new British thriller. After that we will see her as Enid who is - you guessed it - yet another angry and alienated juvenile in the film Ghost World.

"You do one movie one way and people think that somehow that defines your personality," Birch says, "which is obviously not true. I am interested in maintaining longevity and diversity in my career. I'd like to be fulfilled, and to do that I'd like to do as many different roles as possible."

But even she has to admit that lately she's been playing the dark, "intelligent" girl starring alongside a more conventional and usually blond beauty.

"I guess that's true. But maybe next time you see me I'll have blond curly hair," she challenges. "And I will even giggle a lot. I will. Really. Just watch me."

Birch has had what could be described as two careers - one was pre-American Beauty during which she played lots of cute kids and co-starred with chimpanzees. Her first role at the age of 5 saw her praising Quaker Oats and slurping porridge in a commercial. Parts followed in movies such as Monkey Trouble, Alaska and as Harrison Ford's daughter in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.

All that changed after Birch won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Jane, the angsty teenage daughter in American Beauty. She was nominated for a best supporting actress Bafta for that and ever since has been offered more serious, grown-up roles.

Interestingly though, Birch doesn't actually like many of the people she's had to become onscreen recently. She thinks that a little bit of the character always seems to slip into her real life and she's not sure that's a good thing.

"I don't think I'd wish anyone to become any of the people I've played," says the 19-year-old LA resident. "You can't ask the audience to forgive them for some of the things they've done, but at the same time I hope that people understand them. I hope that I make a statement of some kind about the character."

The one thing she is proud of is that all of those dramatic statements have had a kind of strength in common. Obsessive, psychopathic, social outcast or just suffering your typical teenage angst, most of Birch's characters are definitely determined young women. "I wouldn't want to be friends with Jane," Birch says. "But Liz I'd be intrigued by. Although I wouldn't want to hang out with her too much because she's a bit too weird."

And if she had to invent a character she could really befriend?

"They'd have to be really, really funny. They'd have a great sense of humour and they'd be carefree," she says. "Why? Because I guess I'd like to be carefree too. But then I don't think anybody really is. Do you?"

Now Birch starts laughing at the philosophical direction her reply is taking. Well, she could always ditch that dark, dangerous image and just play the part of carefree - couldn't she? "I could," Birch agrees. And now she's laughing again. Funny thing is, she doesn't sound particularly convinced.

On growing up onscreen in Hollywood: "People always say, 'Oh no, she's a child star. She's doomed.' But that wasn't the case for me. Growing up this way you get a great diversity of experiences. I mean, I went to a regular school with regular kids, many of whom weren't in the business. But then I also got to travel and work with some of my heroes, meet all kinds of incredible people and experience different cultures. You become more enriched as a person because of all that."

On Generation X, Y and Z: "We look at our parents and we recognise that they've done everything, tried everything. Therefore it makes you wonder, 'What can I possibly do that would be new or helpful?' There's just this sense of boredom. But I couldn't imagine what might come next. Things are not that great right now, but then again, I'd hate to think they could get any worse."

On whether teenagers are growing up faster: "They are to a degree. I think it's because everything is travelling at a faster pace. It's crazy. We're living in this technologically charged climate."

On her future home: "I'd like to live in a pyramid. Or maybe a church. Because they're just so beautiful. And because there's nothing in Beverley Hills that could be that good. You always hear that, 'Oh, so-and-so has a fabulous house.' But then you'd have the best answer, 'Hey, I live in a pyramid. An Egyptian Pharaoh built it for me. No crap."'

Twenty seconds to send a message to the world: "The environment. We have got to patch up those holes in the ozone, stop the polar ice caps from melting and save the fishes, trees, kids ... all that. I had such a wonderful childhood, but there are lots of kids out there who don't. We have to take care of them."

* The Hole is screening now.