The following article contains references to substance abuse and suicide.
The rosy-cheeked 7-year-old starred as Cindy Lou Who.
The mega-talented youngster seemingly came out of nowhere.
In actuality, though, Momsen was a burgeoning star from St Louis, Missouri.
Her first career move was a modeling contract, which she obtained at the tender age of 2.
By age 3,she’d started appearing in commercialsfor popular brands like Snuggle and Shake ‘N Bake.
Speaking with Revolver Magazine in 2011, Momsen got candid about the ugly side of being a child actor.
“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.”
However, Momsen prefers to look on the bright side when it comes to her unconventional childhood.
She was gaining traction as an actor, but her big break was still a few years away.
As Momsen recalled, filming “The Grinch” wasn’t always easy.
The job called for rigorous rehearsals, and Momsen’s hair and makeup took hours to complete.
In the end, though, it was all worth it.
““And, I mean, Jim Carrey’s performance alone is so incomparable.
The experience truly was life-changing for Momsen.
She started singing, playing guitar, and writing songs regularly.
“Music has this healing quality to it,” the star toldElle.
“I feel so fortunate that I found that in music at such a young age.
Unfortunately, her classmates weren’t as welcoming as she hoped they would be.
Momsen struggled to fit in and was bullied for her role as Cindy Lou Who.
I was just ‘Grinch Girl.’
… Not even the character name, just ‘Grinch Girl.'”
Momsen was just 12 years old when she filmed the series pilot.
As the youngest cast member, she struggled to bond with her much older co-stars.
“I was kind of going through the awkward, shy thing,” Momsen confessed on"Podcrushed.
“She continued, saying, “I was by myself a lot …
I didn’t have my own clique …
I was the new girl, I was ‘Grinch Girl,’ I was whatever.
I was always kind of in this weird, isolated world.”
Nevertheless, the series became a runaway success.
But Momsen’s “Gossip Girl” fame didn’t come without a cost.
As a young teen, she was targeted by the paparazzi.
To reclaim her individuality, Momsen embraced an edgier aesthetic.
She cut her hair into a short, platinum bob and started wearing gobs of black eyeliner.
She was targeted by tabloids
By 2009, Momsen was at the top of her game.
As her popularity soared, Momsen captured tons of media attention.
Unfortunately, she was also pursued by tabloids.
Some gossip magazines attempted to paint the teenager as a promiscuous, chain-smoking party girl.
Others accused her of having plastic surgery while simultaneously picking apart her appearance.
The snapshot circulated the internet, generating a dumpster fire of misogynistic ridicule.
With one click of a camera lens, the actor-singer was reduced to a punchline.
Ultimately, Momsen chose to ignore the tabloids altogether.
“I don’t read them,” the songstress toldBBCin 2010.
“I don’t even care, at all.
If you read them and you care then it’ll just destroy you.
It’s stupid to care about any of it.”
Eager to shed her bubblegum image, Momsen started wearing revealing outfits, towering platforms, and fishnet stockings.
She was also becoming increasingly disenchanted with her childhood acting career.
In 2010, “Gossip Girl” guest star Tim Gunn gave a scathing interview about Momsen’s behavior.
News, Gunn said of Momsen, “What a diva!
She was pathetic, she couldn’t remember her lines, and she didn’t even have that many.
I thought to myself ‘why are we all being held hostage by this brat?'”
Meanwhile, tabloids continued printing sensationalized stories about her appearance.
“The phase was the stripper heels and the outrageous outfits,” the singer toldPeoplein 2021.
“But at the time, that didn’t feel like a phase.
That was very much who I was and how I was comfortable dressing.
Like anyone, I grew and I matured.
But rock and roll was never a phase.”
Soon came a successful first album, followed by several tours.
In 2011, the “Just Tonight” singer had a revelation and decided to quit acting.
“It was like a click,” she recalled on"Podcrushed.
“She continued, saying, “I woke up one morning and went, ‘Wait a second.
I don’thaveto do this?
I don’t have to do this other job?
I can just play in my band and tour and write songs?
I can just do that?'”
Ultimately, the producers of “Gossip Girl” agreed to write her character out of the show.
“I’m forever grateful and thankful to them for that,” she said.
But, in fact, it was years in the making.
As she told Elle, acting was never really her calling.
I was always writing songs and playing instruments and singing and it just took.”
But tragically, Chris Cornell died by suicide on the final night of the joint tour.
The news left Momsen shocked and heartbroken.
I couldn’t fake it.
So I canceled the tour and went home.”
Less than a year later, Momsen suffered another heartwrenching loss.
Her best friend and producer, Kato Khandwala, died in a motorcycle accident.
“That was the nail in the coffin for me,” she recalled.
“I spiraled real fast.”
Devastated by the tragedies, Momsen withdrew from the world and lost her will to make music.
“I was done,” she toldLouder.
“I fell into such a hole of darkness, depression and substance abuse.
Essentially I gave up on life.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available.
For Momsen, the process of creating the album doubled as a method for coping with her sorrows.
“Writing this album is what really kind of pulled me back to life.”
Music has also given the singer a heartwarming way to honor her Khandwala.
“Death By Rock And Roll” opens with the sound of his footsteps.
Their first hit single, “Heaven Knows,” soared to No.
1 on the Billboard rock charts in 2014.
1 rock singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.
By 2020, The Pretty Reckless racked up their fifth No.
1 single, “Death By Rock And Roll.”
Momsen toldForbesthat the news was “very humbling and exciting.”
The band’s first hit, “Heaven Knows,” went platinum the same year.
With that, The Pretty Reckless Became the first female-fronted rock band to land a whopping seven No.
