‘I was child star in the Grinch – now I’m a stripper heels nutcase leading a rock band’

She was the adorable little girl in How the Grinch Stole Christmas with her buck-toothed smile and quirky hairdo.

But Taylor Momsen has come a long way from the sweet seven-year-old who starred as Cindy Lou Who in the 2000 cult Christmas flick. Despite ditching Hollywood for good over a decade ago, the 30-year-old didn’t shake the limelight completely.

Now, 23 years after starring opposite Jim Carrey, the St. Louis, Missouri, resident has become an international sex symbol and provocative rocker for punk band The Pretty Reckless. With her “stripper heels” and flashing her duct tape-covered boobs, she admitted she was a “f***ing nutcase”, she told Cosmopolitan.

READ MORE: The Grinch’s Cindy-Lou star Taylor Momsen parades underboob and abs in racy mirror selfie

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Rewind to the mid-1990s and young Taylor was pushed into the world of entertainment at the tender age of two. “No two-year-old wants to be working, but I had no choice. My whole life, I was in and out of school. I didn’t have friends,” she told Revolver magazine.

After initial reluctance and stroppiness – not just because of the terrible twos – and trio of tiny roles, Taylor hit the jackpot: a part in How The Grinch Stole Christmas. A catalyst for her career, parts in 2002’s Hansel and Gretel and Spy Kids 2 flew by. Yet, Taylor was left with a feeling of discontent.

Her quirky onscreen Christmas character had become her identity, and she knew that enough was enough. “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,” she she revealed on SiriusXM’s Podcrushed podcast.

In 2007, she finally managed to shake the nickname after gaining widespread fame when she starred as Jenny Humphrey in coming-of-age drama, Gossip Girl. The teen starred alongside the likes of Blake Lively and Penn Badgley until she had a new epiphany.

“I woke up one morning and went, ‘Wait a second. I don’t have to do this? I don’t have to do this other job? I can just play in my band and tour and write songs? I can just do that?’”

By 2010, just a year after forming the band, she revealed that she had quit acting entirely to focus on her music career with her rocky band The Pretty Reckless. By 16-years-old, her jet black make-up and goth-styled leather clothing and punky demeanour shocked the world.

The sweet, blonde, blue-eyed girl was gone: her wild child phase had well and truly begun. She produced a flood of naked album covers, music videos, flashed fans and one occasion, invited two busty women on stage to strip in front of the whole crowd.

All the while, the band enjoyed their burgeoning success. TPR released their debut album, Light Me Up, in 2011, and have since unveiled three more, the latest being Death by Rock and Roll in 2021. The same year, Taylor took home Rock Artist of the Year at the 2021 iHeart Radio Music Awards thanks to her raspy voice and energetic performances.

While the world of rock and roll stole her heart, and admittedly, acting isn’t being her true calling, Taylor’s not completely against the idea of reappearing on the silver screen. “Acting is something I did and maybe I’ll do it again. Who knows? But music will forever be a constant. It’s not going anywhere,” she told Elle.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk