What happened? She was so good in American Beauty and this.
Of course, thought Scarlett was excellent, but never expected that she would get to be a super star, which she deszerves. One of the very few child stars, along with Nataly Portmann, who kept doing great movies without a drug interlude.
You seem to have an extraordinary high definition of what a star is. Or, more likely, mainstream definition of one. Some of the biggest stars in the world were only alive for 10 years of fame. She was in a major part in an iconic ensemble movie. It's not just roles, either, that make a star. It's wittiness and coolness in interviews too. Thora was regarded as one of the most interesting.
shareI did think she was going to be a bigger star. I thought she was a lot better than Scarlett in this film. It just wasn't to be. I also forgot that Brad Renfro died before the decade was up.
shareThe main producer, Lianne Halfon, put it best: "Ghost World was discovered by most audiences after it was out of the theaters. The critics loved it when it came out and the reviews were overwhelmingly positive, but it didn’t do nearly the box office that it could have because it just didn’t have the kind of specialized marketing and positioning that it needed."
She elaborated: United Artists didn’t have a strong sense of how Ghost World was going to play before it was released, and it wasn’t really until they did the first test screening that they had a sense of that film. There was an entire change in the administration of United Artists from the time of that first test screening to the release date and the new team did not have enough time to build a marketing strategy."
More about the film: https://popcultmaster.com/2018/04/05/that-indie-street-cred-film/
It's disappointing, but I honestly think it didn't happen for a reason that is visible in the film: Enid keeps getting ignored by all the guys for Rebecca. Thora isn't a hideous troll, but she's not "Hollywood hot", and so it's hard for her to get those A-list gate-opening films. Scarlett Johansson basically was a second-stringer until she was an Avenger. She was in a bunch of great, indie films (like this and Lost in Translation), but Black Widow made her a household name. Thora doesn't get those kinds of roles, so she didn't get that kind of booster shot.
And let's be clear: that's really sad. It's really sad that that's the gate opener.
Her dad sabotaging her career was a part of it, Thora wasn't exactly known to be easy to work with it either so she has a part to play in it. You can see interviews with her now and you can see she's not someone who holds back on her opinions.
Some bad movie choices too didn't help. If we're just talking about her career as a adult actress, Take out American Beauty and Ghost World, I have a soft spot for The Hole. Her run between 1999 to 2001 is probably her strongest of her career. After that she's just not done enough strong work.
Take Scarlett for example, she was already doing good work before Ghost World and two years later had her break out with Lost in Translation. Even if she had meh film she bounced back right away with a great film and eventually she cemented herself as a leading actress, which she still holds today. Thora just didn't have that.
Best thing Thora has done in film since was The Last Black Man in San Francisco and she's only in that a minute.