Cindy Lou from The Grinch is now one of the biggest rock stars in the world
Barely a day goes by without seeing a ‘Feel old yet?’ meme on Twitter, which means we’re often inundated with hilarious but ultimately completely untrue updates on some of our favourite stars of yesteryear.
Funnily enough, Mike Dimt from Green Day hasn’t morphed into Vladimir Putin, as the internet may have you believe, while – believe it or not – Sid from the Toy Story franchise never became actor Will Poulter in his adulthood.
But one grown-up child star may come as a surprise to you, as you may never have recognised her in her current career as one of the biggest rock stars in the world.
Yep, Taylor Momsen was the actor who played Cindy Lou Who in 2000’s festive classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas, alongside the likes of Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor and Christine Baranski.
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Momsen was just seven years old, and later became well-known for featuring in teen drama series Gossip Girl until 2012.
Eventually, however, she retired from acting to focus on music, fronting rock group The Pretty Reckless.
The band now has four studio albums to their name, the latest being last year’s Death by Rock and Roll, which landed in a number of charts upon its release - including at the top of Billboard's Top Album Sales chart.
After debuting with 16,000 sales in the US, the record was also number one on the Current Rock Albums chart, the Record Label Independent Albums chart and Internet Albums chart.
Speaking to Today back in 2020, Momsen revealed that her time on set of The Grinch actually ended up influencing not only her career in acting, but also her music.
Recalling what it was like working with Jim Carrey, Momsen said: "I remember him being so kind, so concerned, but so methodical with what he was doing.
"Even at that young of an age, I remember watching him and going, 'I'm watching an artist right now at work'."
She continued: "I think that people love The Grinch just simply because the core of the story is so sweet and it's so heartwarming and it has such a good message.
"Aside from how amazing Jim Carrey's performance is and the theatrics that went into the shoot, just the way the film looks and moves and is edited is amazing in its own right."
As for how the role impacted her move into the music industry, Momsen remembered feeling inspired after seeing celebrated composer James Horner at work in the studio.
Momsen said: "The thing that I remember the most that probably resonated with me to this day as an adult was the first time that I went into a recording studio and got to work with the amazing James Horner.
"And I'll never forget walking into this beautiful studio, with this immaculate console in front of me, and putting headphones on and singing into a microphone for the first time, singing 'Where Are You Christmas'."
"That was such an impactful moment in my life because it made me go, 'I wanna make music for the rest of my life. I love being in a recording studio'."
She added: "I'm in my bedroom singing 'Where Are You Christmas' with the flashlight. I mean, essentially, that was my first music video. So I always get a kick out of that. And I remember thinking that was a really fun scene to film."
Jess Hardiman