Taylor Momsen

Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, model, and former actress.

She began acting professionally at three years of age in a 1997 national commercial for Shake 'n Bake.

She was then cast in The Prophet's Game.

Momsen is included on the list of unclaimed Coogan accounts for performing children who have had part of their childhood earnings set aside to be claimed in adulthood pursuant to the Coogan Act.

Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and Jenny Humphrey on The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012).

In 2000, Momsen played the role of Cindy Lou Who in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, her breakout role.

In 2002, she played Gretel in Hansel and Gretel and Alexandra, the President's daughter, in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams.

Momsen's career came to a halt for over three years until she received a lead role in the WB series Misconceptions, which never aired.

In 2002, she recorded the songs "One Small Voice" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the compilation album ''School's Out!

After that, she appeared in the 2006 film Saving Shiloh.

She also auditioned for the title role in Hannah Montana, and was in the top three, but the role was instead awarded to Miley Cyrus—a decision that Momsen was happy with in retrospect.

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.

Beginning in 2007, she played the character of Jenny Humphrey in The CW television series Gossip Girl, based on the book series by Cecily von Ziegesar.

Momsen's appearances on the series became increasingly sporadic, and, by the end of the first half of the fourth season, she had only appeared in four episodes.

Momsen has been the frontwoman of the American rock band the Pretty Reckless since their inception in 2008.

Momsen was born 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 is of partial Russian descent.

She was raised Catholic, attending Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School for elementary school and later Herbert Hoover Middle School (in Potomac, Maryland), but is now non-religious.

She also studied ballet at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis.

Momsen was signed with Ford Models at a very young age: "My parents signed me up with Ford [Modeling] at the 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. I was working constantly and I didn't have a real life."

In June 2008, at the age of 14, Momsen signed to IMG Models.

Momsen appeared on the cover of Page Six Magazine when she was 15 years old in 2009.

She was the face of British fashion chain New Look for its spring/summer 2010 collection.

After weeks of speculation about who would be 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.

In 2010, she appeared in a video for Galliano's "Parlez-Moi d'Amour" fragrance ad campaign.

Momsen is the face of Samantha Thavasa's handbag line.

She has done multiple photoshoots, press events, and commercials.

She also appeared on the February 2010 cover of Seventeen.

In October 2010, Momsen wore a pair of platform stilettos, thigh-high stockings, and a holster strapped around her leg for Revolver.

It was then announced that the actress would be scheduled for an indefinite hiatus from the show, which ended with her leaving the series as a regular cast member after the completion of the fourth season in 2011.

On August 16, 2011, Momsen told Elle magazine that she had quit acting to focus on her music career.

On October 16, 2012, it was reported that Momsen would be returning to Gossip Girl for its final episode, in which she appeared briefly in the wedding sequence.

She appeared on the cover of FHM March 2012 edition and FHM ranked Momsen #29 in its 2012 Hot 100 issue.

She also made her cover debut for Maxim in the November 2013 issue.

In an interview with music journalist Jason Tanamor, when asked about posing for Playboy, she said, "I was at the mansion last week and took some pictures. Does that count?"

Momsen has said that "music is where I can be me", stating 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."

At seven years old, Momsen recorded the song "Where Are You Christmas?"

for the soundtrack to How the Grinch Stole Christmas.