The 2000 film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas tells the tale of a scandalous anti-Santa who attempts to sabotage Christmas in Whoville. That is, until he's thwarted by the angelic Cindy Lou Who. And the actress behind those adorable braids was a 7-year-old Taylor Momsen. But if you think the Grinch pulled an impressive one-eighty, you haven't seen Momsen now. Of course everyone grows up, but for Momsen, the role was the perfect storm of exposure for a child star. The actress essentially walked into a beloved classic, and got to mix it up with the then-unstoppable star, Jim Carrey, as the Grinch.
It's no wonder that before the time she was even a teen, she landed a decidedly grown-up starring role on The CW's teen drama Gossip Girl.
Momsen played budding fashion designer/drug dealer Jenny Humphrey in the long-running series. But although she logged an impressive 66 episodes and created an arguably iconic character while she was at it, it would signal the end of her acting career.
Speaking of her 2011 exit from the show to pursue her true passion, music, Momsen told the Daily Beast in 2014,
"I started modeling at 2, and then acting at 3, and then Gossip Girl when I was 12, so I wasn't really making my own decisions… When I got to a place where I realized I was in control of my own life and had found the right band, and everything was coming to fruition, it wasn't even a question: I was going to quit my day job."
The former actress says she showed up to set with her guitar, and production allowed her to be written off the show, in order to tour. She said,
"I came to set every day with a f---in' guitar. But I'm very lucky that the producers were nice enough to write me out, allow me to tour, and pursue my passion, because they very easily could have told me to go f--- myself and keep me on the show."
She was less diplomatic about the situation a few months later in an interview with Riverfront Times while promoting her band, The Pretty Reckless. She said,
"I'm not looking to go back to [acting]. Gossip Girl was a great experience, and it helped in one way and hurt in another, but it feels like forever ago. I've been around the world 7 billion times since then, and when we go to shows, the fans don't give a f--- about the TV show."
But Momsen's career isn't the only thing that's transformed over the years.
The gorgeous blonde replaced her Christmas PJ's with a dark, rock-goth look that even seeped its way onto Gossip Girl. Armed with her now-signature heavy mascara, Momsen may seem like she's trying to eschew the traditional standard of beauty, but she doesn't see it that way. She told Indie in 2017,
"I'm sure there is a standard… of what people consider beautiful. But I think originality and honesty is beautiful. So if you're being yourself in whatever incarnation that is, being honest and true to yourself, that's the best and most beautiful person you can be. If you try to emulate anything then you're already not being true to yourself. The only way to figure out who you are is to go through all these incarnations."
According to Billboard, Momsen and The Pretty Reckless made history as the quote, "first act to send its first four entries to Number One on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart," putting them in step with bands like The Black Crowes, Collective Soul, and Three Days Grace.
Now, that's the kind of goal-digging that could make any Grinch's heart grow three sizes. Rock on, grown-up Cindy Lou.
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