Taylor Momsen Biography

Taylor Momsen began playing Jenny Humphrey, the crafty and social-climbing young blonde on the prime-time soap opera Gossip Girl, in 2007. Momsen got her start in the movies at age 7, when she landed the plum role of Cindy Lou Who in the live-action feature How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000, with Jim Carrey as the Grinch). That led to kid roles in films like Spy Kids 2 (2002), Saving Shiloh (2006) and Underdog (2007), and a darker role in the Gus Van Sant skateboard film Paranoid Park (2007). Her career really took off when she landed her Gossip Girl role as the not-as-rich, not-as-popular girl who wants desperately to rule the “in” crowd. Momsen also founded her own rock band, The Pretty Reckless, in 2009; she sings and plays guitar.