Metro

Dad gets star Thora axed from ‘Dracula’

“American Beauty” actress Thora Birch won’t be able to count “Dracula” on her stage résumé.

Producers drove a stake through the 28-year-old’s role in the play, after cast and crew clashed with her meddling stage dad, former porn star Jack Birch, sources said.

Reps for the off-Broadway show, which debuts Jan. 5 at the Little Shubert Theatre, nonchalantly announced yesterday that “Thora Birch has been released from the cast of . . . ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula.’ ”

Birch has been replaced as female lead Lucy Seward by understudy Emily Bridges, the daughter of veteran actor Beau Bridges.

Show director Paul Alexander put the final nail in Thora’s “Dracula” coffin after Jack — who doubles as his daughter’s manager — appeared to threaten an unidentified co-star during rehearsals on Thursday night, production sources said.

Jack Birch, hubby of Birch’s mom, “Deep Throat” porn actress Carol Connors, interrupted a scene when an actor began rubbing his daughter’s back.

When the actor explained he had been directed to do it, the dad snapped: “Listen, man, I’m trying to make this easier on you — don’t touch her,” a production source said.

“[Alexander] didn’t want to do this. Everybody loved Thora and thought she was great,” a show insider said.

“But [Jack Birch] threatened a cast member and [Alexander] didn’t want something like that, that would wreck the whole show.”

Cast members were unnerved by the constant presence of Birch’s father on the set, sources said.

During every break, the “American Beauty” star only wanted to spend time on a nearby bench or outside on the steps with her dad, observers said.

“She’s a nice girl, everybody got along with her,” a “Dracula” insider said.

“But I’ve never seen anything like this. She’s a 28-year-old actress and her manager — her dad — was with her . . . all the time. It was more than a little weird and creepy.”

Messages left for Jack Birch and Thora Birch’s agents in Los Angeles seeking comment were not immediately returned yesterday.

Jack Birch also made a huge fuss on the film set of “The Winter of Frozen Dreams” in 2007, Page Six reported, when he demanded to be present for his daughter’s sex scenes with co-star Dean Winters.

“It was so wrong,” an insider said back then. “The director is saying ‘Harder! Faster!’ and the father is giving Winters the thumbs-up.”

david.li@nypost.com