Taylor Momsen says that she was relentlessly teased by classmates for her role in 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Momsen recently appeared on her Gossip Girl costar Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) and revealed that her role as Cindy Lou Who changed her life, but not entirely in positive ways, as she was teased by kids in every school she went to, with kids not even knowing her real name and instead simply calling her “Grinch Girl”.
“First of all, The Grinch changed my life in a multitude of ways — one of them being I was made fun of relentless,” Momsen said. “Every time I would start a new school or go somewhere else, I don’t even think the kids knew my name. I was just Grinch Girl.”
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She continued, “Not even the character name, just Grinch Girl. I got used to it, but it was alienating.”
While Momsen was teased for her role in the film, she also can see the positive in having been a part of it. For the film’s 20th anniversary in 2020, Momsen told Today that the film was amazing to be a part of because of how it continues to touch audiences.
“I think that people love The Grinch just imply because the core of the story is so sweet and it’s so heartwarming and it has such a good message,” she said. “That no matter what age touches your heart, I think that that’s an amazing thing to be a part of. The fact that it comes back around every year — I think it’s something to look forward to. And I think it just kinda brings happiness and joy to anyone who watches it.”
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Is Getting a Sequel
Earlier this year, Random House announced that it is publishing an official sequel to Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas this holiday season. The story will pick up one year after the events of the holiday classic and is titled How the Grinch Lost Christmas!. The book is based on an original story from Alastair Heim who has experience with the world of Dr. Seuss through books such as If I Ran Your School and I Am the Cat in the Hat. The book went on sale September 5th.
“One of the most asked questions we receive from Seuss fans of all ages is ‘What do you think happened to the Grinch after he stole Christmas?” said Alice Jonaitis, executive editor at Random House Children’s Books, in a statement to the Associated Press.
“All throughout writing the story, I couldn’t fully believe that I was actually getting to play in the amazing creative sandbox Dr. Seuss created all those decades ago,” Heim told the AP.
“When I heard of the opportunity to be a part of this project, I jumped at the chance only to find that it was difficult and daunting to approach adding to or expanding such an esteemed and treasured part of the American Christmas canon,” Ruiz said.
