Career as a Child Actress and Continued Success
Taylor Michel Momsen was born on July 26, 1993 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. to parents Michael and Collette Momsen. She has a younger sister who also is an actress, Sloane Momsen. She studied at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School and later enrolled at Herbert Hoover Middle School in Potomac, Maryland.
Her career in the entertainment industry began at age two when her parents signed her with Ford Models. The following year, she started acting professionally when she appeared in a national commercial for Shake ‘n Bake. In 1999, at age six, she was cast as Honey Bee Swan in the film The Prophet’s Game.
The following year, she made her breakthrough when she played the role of Cindy Lou Who in 2000’s Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Despite the movie’s mixed reviews, it went on to become a commercial success, grossing over $345 million on a $123 million budget.
For her performance as Cindy, she earned nominations, including a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Newcomer, a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor and a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress Age Ten or Under.
Her next film came two years later when she appeared as Julie Moore, Mel Gibson’s daughter in the 2002 war film We Were Soldiers. The movie garnered mostly positive reviews and it became a box office success, earning more than $114 million worldwide on a $75 million budget.
Later in 2002, she starred as Alexandra in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, the second film in the Spy Kids film series written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It received positive reviews from critics and was also a box office success, grossing over $119 million on a $38 million budget.
Also in 2002, she played Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, which was widely panned by critics and was also a commercial failure. For about three years, Momsen took a hiatus in acting and made her comeback in 2006 after she was cast as the lead role in the television series Misconceptions, which never aired.
During this time, she also appeared in the family movie Saving Shiloh and auditioned for the title role in Hannah Montana, though the part eventually went to Miley Cyrus. In 2007, she starred as Jennifer in Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park. Subsequently, she starred as Molly in the Walt Disney Pictures feature film Underdog.
Underdog was widely panned by critics though it managed to bring back its $60 million budget with its $65 million worldwide gross. For her performance in the movie, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress.
Subsequent Projects, Musical Venture and Plastic Surgery
It was also in 2007 that she began playing the role of Jennifer “Jenny” Humphrey in the teen drama series Gossip Girl. She gained wider mainstream fame for her role and earned such nominations as Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Breakout Star: Female and a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Leading Young Actress.
Her music career began when she recorded a song for the soundtrack of the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas when she was five. In March 2010, it was reported that Momsen’s band The Pretty Reckless had signed a recording deal with Interscope Records. She then performed in her first tour when her band opened for The Veronicas.
Her band’s debut album Light Me Up was released in August 2010 in the UK where it peaked at Number 6 and Number 18 in Ireland. The album spawned the singles “Make Me Wanna Die”, “Miss Nothing”, “Just Tonight” and “Kill Me”. The band also became supporting acts for such bands as Evanescence and Marilyn Manson.
The Gossip Girl actress is only 20 but even this did not her make her an exception to be in the middle of plastic surgery rumors. Though it’s not very unusual for young stars in Hollywood to go under the knife, it can still be pretty shocking when we hear such reports of young women undergoing an invasive surgery for the sake of beauty.
According to rumors, Momsen looks to have undergone a breast augmentation surgery as her breasts recently appear to be fuller. The young star is known for her slim figure so for her to have a more prominent bust in the present seems to be beyond nature, arising some suspicions that she indeed had gone under the knife. Momsen has yet to comment on the rumors.