In a throwback interview posted on her Instagram stories, Taylor Momsen spoke with SiriusXM’s ‘Podcrushed’ podcast about her experiences as a child actress, focusing on her time in ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas.’
Since Momsen was just seven years old when she played Cindy Lou Who in the Christmas film, the role affected her ability to make friends during her school years:
“First of all, ‘The Grinch’ changed my life in a multitude of ways – one of them being I was made fun of relentlessly. Every time I would start a new school or go somewhere else, I don’t even think the kids knew my name. I was just ‘Grinch girl.’ Not even the character name, just Grinch girl. I got used to it, but it was alienating…Making friends was always challenging for me.”
Acting Often Disrupted Her Friendships
The singer managed to find her stride in middle school by forming a nameless garage band. But this period didn’t last long, as her casting as Jenny Humphrey in ‘Gossip Girl’ led her to move again. She recalled:
“So as soon as I started to find my little groove in school as a normal kid, ‘Gossip Girl’ came about, and I got uprooted to New York. The band fell apart. We were gonna be huge. It was a real bummer. And I had to kind of restart it all again in New York, which didn’t take me that long.”
She Went From Acting To Singing With A New Band
In 2009, while still on ‘Gossip Girl,’ Momsen started The Pretty Reckless. After that, she retired from her acting career with a shift to music.
The vocalist has released four studio albums in almost fifteen years with her bandmates Ben Phillips, Mark Damon, and Jamie Perkins. Talking about being in a group during the recent interview, she explained:
“And it took a minute to find the right band members. I really wanted to make my own kind of makeshift family. I wanted to be in a band; I wanted to be part of something and not do it by myself. I wanted to be The Beatles; I didn’t want to be Elvis [Presley] — who wants to do this alone? I wanted to share it with people.”
The band members announced working on their fifth studio album in May 2023.
