Taylor Momsen

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This article is about the actor and musician. For the race car driver, see Tayler Malsam.

Taylor Momsen
Momsen live on Warped Tour Kickoff in April 2010
Background information
Birth name	Taylor Michel Momsen
Born	(1993-07-26) July 26, 1993 (age 19)
Origin	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, hard rock, post-grunge
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, actress, model
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Interscope
Associated acts	The Pretty Reckless

Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American actress, musician and model who portrayed the character of Jenny Humphrey on the CW television series Gossip Girl and Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She fronts the rock band The Pretty Reckless

Early life and career

Momsen at the Metropolitan Opera in 2008

Taylor Momsen was born on July 26, 1993 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents are Michael and Collette Momsen and she has a younger sister, Sloane Momsen, who is also an actress. She attended Our Lady of Lourdes School and was raised Roman Catholic. She began acting professionally at three years of age with a national commercial for Shake 'N' Bake. She was then cast in The Prophet's Game. In 2000, Momsen played the role of Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Two years later she was cast in the motion picture: Hansel and Gretel, in which she played Gretel.
Momsen's career came to a halt for over three years until she received the lead role in the never-aired WB series Misconceptions. Momsen appeared in the 2006 film Saving Shiloh. She auditioned for the title role in Hannah Montana, and was in the top three, but the role was instead awarded to Miley Cyrus. In 2007, she starred in the Walt Disney Pictures film Underdog, as Molly and as Jennifer in the movie Paranoid Park, directed by Gus Van Sant.
As of 2007 she plays the character of Jenny Humphrey in The CW television series Gossip Girl, which is based on the book series by Cecily von Ziegesar. Taylor attended the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City alongside Connor Paolo, Gregory Malek-Jones and Karina Pasian. Momsen, who appeared in only four episodes through the first half of season four, was then scheduled for an indefinite hiatus from the show. On August 16, 2011, Momsen told Elle magazine that she quit acting to focus on her music career.

Modeling

In June 2008, at the age of fourteen, Momsen signed to IMG Models.
Taylor was the face of British fashion chain New Look for its spring/summer 2010 collection.After weeks of speculation of who was the face of Madonna's 2010 fashion line "Material Girl", Momsen was announced on July 15, 2010. A week later, Momsen was announced as the model for John Galliano's new women's fragrance, scheduled to launch in autumn 2010

Music

Momsen in concert in April 2010

Momsen has stated that "music is where I can be me",saying that "Acting is easy. I've been doing it for so long and I totally love it. But you're playing a character instead of yourself. Music is more personal because you're writing it and you're involved in every step of it." Aged five, Momsen recorded the song "Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" for the soundtrack to How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In 2002, she recorded the songs "One Small Voice" and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the compilation album School's Out! Christmas.