Her breakthrough role came in 1999 with the Academy Award winning film, American Beauty. Her performance was well received by both critics and audience and brought Birch to an international recognition. She later played the lead role in Ghost World (2001) for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Birch has not been in the spotlight since Ghost World. She has since appeared in independent and straight-to-video films such as Dark Corners (2006), Train (2008) and Winter of Frozen Dreams (2009).