Taylor Momsen shares how Jim Carrey was 'incredibly protective' of her on the sets of How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Jim Carrey is being remembered by Taylor Momsen as “incredibly protective” during How the Grinch Stole Christmas, as the film’s 25th anniversary sparks fresh behind-the-scenes stories. In a new retrospective, Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who as a child, looked back on how physically intense Jim Carrey’s Grinch performance could get on set and why she always felt he was watching out for her.

She also shared with Vulture a specific moment from a mountain sledge sequence that turned into a safety scare, and she said Jim Carrey stopped filming to check on her right away. If you are wondering where this story comes from, what Momsen actually said, and how it connects to the movie’s core message about kindness and Christmas spirit, the details are below, along with quick context on Cindy Lou Who’s role in the plot and where both stars are now.

Taylor Momsen says Jim Carrey was “incredibly protective” on the Grinch set

The headline claim comes from a 25th-anniversary oral history that revisits the making of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In that piece, Taylor Momsen describes what she remembers most clearly from working so closely with Jim Carrey in heavy makeup, long days, and big physical scenes. As per the Vulture report dated December 12, 2025, Taylor Momsen said,

“And he was incredibly protective. That’s what I remember.”

Momsen’s perspective is rooted in the fact that she was a young child during production. She played Cindy Lou Who, the small Who girl who sees past the Grinch’s image and keeps trying to treat him like someone worth understanding. In the oral history, Momsen explains that she was around six while shooting and was seven by the time the film came out, which shaped how she processed everything on set.

She ties that protectiveness to Jim Carrey’s performance style. The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas is loud, exaggerated, and constantly moving, which can easily feel intimidating when you are acting opposite an adult in full creature makeup.

Momsen describes Carrey as “animated” and “over the top” in the same stretch of recollection, while also saying he kept checking in to make sure she was okay. That is the core of her story, not that the set was chaotic, but that she felt looked after in the middle of it.

Momsen also adds a detail that explains why the dynamic felt unusual to her as a kid. She said she did not really know what Jim Carrey looked like off-camera because she never saw him outside the Grinch transformation until the premiere.

That meant, in her day-to-day reality on set, “Jim” was basically the Grinch, and the reassurance had to come through behavior, not through the separation an adult viewer might take for granted. That is why her simplest “receipt” line lands so cleanly. Taylor Momsen said,

“I was laughing; I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I just almost fell very high off the ground. I always felt really safe with Jim. I liked being around him.

She further added,

At such a young age, to watch an artist who is that serious at what they’re doing even while playing this very over-the-top character, it was clear to me how much he was putting into it and how much of an artist he was..”

In the same memory, she frames Jim Carrey as someone who took the work seriously even while playing a deliberately ridiculous character, and she credits that seriousness as part of what made him feel like a real professional presence around her. Carey replied with mutual love and admiration to her statement in the interview by saying,

"As soon as I met her, you could just tell right away she was just an incredibly precocious child — smart beyond her years, and her comedy timing was impeccable. A total pro. I don’t think she ever went up on a line or missed a cue or anything like that."

Momsen explains the stunt moment where Jim Carrey “called cut” to check on her

The most concrete example Momsen gives is tied to a sledge sequence, where the characters ride down a mountain. In the oral history, she describes the setup as a real sled rig placed on a large spring mechanism that pushed the sledge side to side aggressively.

The story matters because it turns her general description of Jim Carrey’s protectiveness into a specific moment where safety became the priority. Momsen’s version of the scene is straightforward. She says there was a moment when she almost fell out of the sled, high off the ground. Taylor Momsen said,

“He called cut and started checking in on me. I was having a great time.”

In the same beat, she says he “freaked out” and immediately started checking on her rather than pushing forward for another take. The tonal contrast is what makes the anecdote work. Momsen says she was laughing and having fun, and she was not thinking about how close the near-fall actually was.

That gap between a child’s adrenaline and an adult’s risk assessment is basically the point of her story. Jim Carrey reacted like the grown-up in the moment, even though he was also the one doing the most exaggerated, physically busy performance on the sled. Taylor Momsen said,

“Jim was very, very protective of me on set as a person, as a kid, always looking out for me, checking in, making sure I was okay.”

Jim Carrey’s own reasoning in the same reporting focuses on the mismatch between the character and the person playing him. Jim Carrey said,

“Of course, I’m jumping around her like an out-of-control monster, so I had to let her know that I’m going to be doing some monstrous things, but I’m not a real monster.”

That line spells out what Momsen’s story implies: he was managing a child actor’s comfort while delivering a performance designed to look unpredictable.

Jim Carrey, Cindy Lou Who, and why this memory still fits the heart of How the Grinch Stole Christmas?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas was released in 2000, directed by Ron Howard and adapted from Dr. Seuss’s 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. The story follows the Grinch, a bitter creature on Mount Crumpit who tries to sabotage Christmas in Whoville by stealing the town’s decorations, gifts, and food.

Cindy Lou Who is the moral center that the movie keeps returning to. In the film, she is the child who keeps asking what Christmas is supposed to mean and why everyone is so focused on the surface of it.

She invites the Grinch into Whoville, nominates him for a public honor, and keeps trying to understand him even after the town turns on her for believing he could change. That is why the on-set story about Jim Carrey being careful around Momsen lines up neatly with the plot’s emotional logic.

The biggest story beat in the movie is also the most famous one. After stealing Christmas, the Grinch hears the Whos singing anyway, realizes the holiday is not only about presents, and has the “heart grows three sizes” moment that forces him to change course.

The anniversary framing also invites a quick “where are they now” bridge. Momsen moved from child acting into music and became the frontwoman of The Pretty Reckless, while the movie’s legacy keeps resurfacing every holiday season through clips, reruns, and new retrospectives.

Stay tuned for more updates.