What a career change

Some of you will have started listening to festive music, others will have started the present shopping (fair play if you have) and you may even have stuck a Christmas film on.

And when it comes to Christmas films, How The Grinch Stole Christmas is right up there with the best of them.

The 2000 film stars Jim Carrey in an insane amount of prosthetics as the titular Grinch, and Jaylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who.

Whilst you'll all be pretty familiar with how Carrey's career had progressed since the film, many of you might be wondering what Momsen went on do.

Well, she was just seven-years-old when she starred in the Grinch, and later achieved stardom for featuring in hit teen drama series Gossip Girl until 2012.

Then, she decided to have a career change, retiring from acting to focus on music and fronting the rock group The Pretty Reckless.

Releasing their debut album in 2010, the group have gone on to have four studios albums to their known and are best known for songs like Make Me Wanna Die and Heaven Knows.

Last year they released Death by Rock and Roll which charted in Billboard's Top Album Sales chart.

Momsen has spoken in the past about how her role as Cindy Lou in The Grinch ended up influencing her music career as well as her acting.

Speaking to Today in 2020, she recalled how she felt inspired after meeting celebrated composer James Horner at work in the studio

She said: "The thing that I remember the most that probably resonated with me to this day as an adult was the first time that I went into a recording studio and got to work with the amazing James Horner.

"And I'll never forget walking into this beautiful studio, with this immaculate console in front of me, and putting headphones on and singing into a microphone for the first time, singing 'Where Are You Christmas'."

"That was such an impactful moment in my life because it made me go, 'I wanna make music for the rest of my life. I love being in a recording studio'.

"I'm in my bedroom singing 'Where Are You Christmas' with the flashlight. I mean, essentially, that was my first music video. So I always get a kick out of that. And I remember thinking that was a really fun scene to film."

Momsen also had fond memories of working with Carrey on the film, and praised him for the work he put into the role as the Grinch.

She said: "I remember him being so kind, so concerned, but so methodical with what he was doing.

"Even at that young of an age, I remember watching him and going, 'I'm watching an artist right now at work.'"

She continued: "I think that people love The Grinch just simply because the core of the story is so sweet and it's so heartwarming and it has such a good message.

"Aside from how amazing Jim Carrey's performance is and the theatrics that went into the shoot, just the way the film looks and moves and is edited is amazing in its own right."