Disney child star looks unrecognizable on Cannes red carpet 32 years after hit film’s debut

The actor’s iconic Halloween film was released in 1993

Former Disney child star Thora Birch looked all grown up at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Her appearance came 32 years after the release of her hit movie, Hocus Pocus, where she played headstrong eight-year-old Dani Dennison, who successfully escapes from the Sanderson witch sisters in Salem.

Now 43, Birch, who’s starring in a new film with Kristen Stewart, attended the event in France on Friday wearing a classic black jacket and pants, adorned with silver buttons. She also opted for a white blouse, small hoop earrings, and black shoes. She had pink streaks in her curled blond hair she was known for in Hocus Pocus.

Birch posed on the red carpet with Stewart, who directed and starred in their new movie, The Chronology of Water. They were also joined by Stewart’s wife, Dylan Meyer, actor Imogen Poots, and musician Kim Gordon.

According to a synopsis shared by Cannes, Birch’s new movie follows Lidia Yuknavitch, who was “brought up in an environment torn apart by violence and alcohol.” Lidia “seemed destined for self-destruction and failure until words offered her unexpected freedom in the form of literature.”

“The Chronology of Water, adapted from Yuknavitch’s autobiographical bestseller, follows Lidia’s journey to find her own voice in an exploration of how trauma can be transformed into art through re-possessing our own bloody histories, particularly those uniquely experienced by the bodies of women and girls,” the synopsis continues.

Thora Birch poses during "The Chronology of Water" photocall at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 16, 2025 in Cannes, France (Getty Images)

Birch started her acting career as a child, making her debut in the 1988 film, Purple People Eater. In Hocus Pocus, which came out in 1993, her character was the younger sister of Max, who had to go head-to-head with the Sanderson sisters on Halloween. The trio of sisters were played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy.

Thora Birch, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, Kenny Ortega and Sarah Jessica Parker in Hocus Pocus (Snap/Rex)

The former child star has since continued her career in the entertainment industry. She starred in the 2024 film, The Midway Point, and appeared in an episode of the TV series Mayfair Witches in 2025.

Thora Birch walking the Cannes Film Festival red carpet (Getty Images)

Although there were talks about her being in the Hocus Pocus 2 movie, which came out in 2022, it didn’t work out because of her schedule.

“There were three options we had for how to bring Dani back, all of which I was excited by,” she told Entertainment Tonight in September 2022. “By the time they got around to filming, I was already on something else.”

The cast of ‘Hocus Pocus’, including Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker (Snap/Shutterstock)

During an interview with People in January, she opened up about what could be next for her acting career.

“I try not to say, ‘Oh, I just want to do this type of movie, or that type of movie,’ because it’s fun to play in all the different spaces,’” she explained. “I try not to make a big plan. For a lot of people that works, but for me, in my experience, I’ve found that it’s better not to try to manifest too deeply, because you still have to be open to the new surprises that the universe will introduce to you.”