Thora Birch: 'My career slumped because I refused to conform'

Former child star Thora Birch is convinced her Hollywood career nosedived because she refused to take advice from her handlers and embrace the glamorous side of the movie industry.

The 31 year old shot to fame as a child actor and later landed roles in acclaimed movies such as American Beauty and Ghost World, but has largely remained out of the spotlight in recent years.

Birch now admits she struggled to find her place in Hollywood as she hated the more superficial side of the film business, telling Britain's The Guardian, "I tried to walk a fine line between being alluring and somewhat glamorous but maintain a strong identity and pursue things (projects) that were a little more thoughtful, and I guess nobody really wanted women to do that at that time... I just felt like I was making people angry, because I wouldn't wear the frilly bows. I just didn't take advice and I think people got p**sed off at me for not taking advice... I struggled with reconciling that there was a reason for all that (the glamorous side of the business). I found it distasteful. So yeah, I had that kind of 'oh, p**s off, everyone' attitude."

The actress, who says she is currently "looking for an agent", was fired from her last major project, an off-Broadway production of Dracula in 2010, and she admits she is attempting to move on from the headline-grabbing drama which surrounded her exit.

She adds, "I p**sed a lot of people off over a long period of time and they found a way to upset me, hoping that upset would bring a change in my behavior. Like a distancing... But I'm done, I'm done. People wanted me to be not fine. A lot of it was bulls**t."

Birch adds of a potential career comeback, "I'm not going to sit here and act like everything's glorious and wonderful... I'm just cognisant that I wanna move forward, and people will let me or not, who knows."