Taylor Momsen has nothing but love for Jim Carrey after reuniting with her How the Grinch Stole Christmas co-star for the first time in 25 years at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday.
Speaking to People, the musician reflected on how working alongside Carrey as a child actor helped shape her creative outlook.
“I just love that he was very protective of me,” she said. “He was always very kind. And just the entire experience of filming Grinch and getting to know him so well, even in all the makeup, was just wonderful.”
She continued, “As a young person watching an artist at work and taking their craft so seriously, that left a really powerful, lasting impact on me as an adult now. And I’m excited to be able to tell him that as a grownup.”
On the red carpet, Carrey and Momsen shared a sweet moment.
“We haven’t seen each other since The Grinch,” Carrey told reporters, with Momsen adding, “Yeah, it’s been 25 years. This is insane.”
Momsen was just five years old when she played the iconic Cindy-Lou Who, starring opposite Carrey’s unforgettable green curmudgeon.
After the 2000 Christmas classic, she went on to play Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl, as well as appear in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Underdog and Paranoid Park.
In 2010, Momsen stepped away from acting to focus on her music career as the frontwoman of rock band The Pretty Reckless. Speaking recently on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, she reflected on her transition away from Hollywood.
“Can you talk to me a little bit about having this hard time between separating yourself from Jenny Humphrey and Taylor and how you mentally did that?” Cooper asked.
“Well, I quit, I left. I went, ‘I can’t do this.’ It was a struggle there for years, but what I did was, I treated it very much like a job. I was professional, I showed up.”
She continued, “I knew I had to leave, but at the same time, leaving a career that is so prosperous was not easy.”
After convincing the writers to write her out of Gossip Girl, Momsen left the series to pursue her true passion — music.
