Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, model, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and Jenny Humphrey on The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl (2007–2012). Momsen has been the frontwoman of the American rock band the Pretty Reckless since their inception in 2009. Early life Momsen was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents are Michael and Collette Momsen, and she has a younger sister, Sloane Momsen, who is also an actress. She is of partial Russian descent. She was raised Catholic, attending Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School for elementary school and later Herbert Hoover Middle School (in Potomac, Maryland), but is now non-religious. She also studied ballet at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis. Momsen was signed with Ford Models at a very young age: "My parents signed me up with Ford [Modeling] at the age of 2. No 2-year-old wants to be working, but I had no choice. 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." She began acting professionally at three years of age in a 1997 national commercial for Shake 'n Bake. She was then cast in The Prophet's Game. Momsen is included on the list of Unclaimed Coogan accounts for performing children whose partial childhood earnings are mandated to be put in a special fund but who have yet to claim their earnings. Career Acting In 2000, Momsen played the role of Cindy Lou Who in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, her breakout role. In 2002, she played Gretel in Hansel and Gretel and Alexandra, the President's daughter, in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. Momsen's career came to a halt for over three years until she received a lead role in the WB series Misconceptions, which never aired. After that, she also appeared in the 2006 film Saving Shiloh. She also auditioned for the title role in Hannah Montana, and was in the top three, but the role was instead awarded to Miley Cyrus—a decision that Momsen was happy with in retrospect. In 2007, she starred in the Walt Disney Pictures film Underdog as Molly and as Jennifer in the movie Paranoid Park,