OMFG! TAYLOR MOMSEN GROWS UP

You might not recognize Little J in her new NYLON fashion spread.

Taylor Momsen is under siege.  "There are hundreds of people outside," says the 15-year-old actress, who is calling from the relative safety of her trailer.  "It's pretty intense."

Momsen is on a break from filming the season finale of Gossip Girl, and says she's now accustomed to the mayhem that surrounds the show's many on-location shoots in New York.  "When we started it was really calm, but all of a sudden it got insane.  All the kids ditched their classes to come out and watch, and we had principals yelling at us because we were taking their kids out of class.  I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm an actress!  It's not my fault!'"

More attentive principals might instead want to credit Momsen for keeping their students around.  Jenny "Little J" Humphrey has had a difficult year, dropping out of school to intern at Eleanor Waldorf's atelier, only to return, rather chagrined, to the halls of the Constance Billard School for Girls.  Momsen has had more success: Jenny's transformation from Rufus' little girl to table-dancing fashion designer (and back) was successful thanks to Momsen's portrayal  of Jenny's near-simultaneous skittishness and ruthless exuberance.

Both qualities are on display as Momsen describes her upcoming projects: a tour with her band, Pretty Reckless, and a collaboration with designer Jen Kao to produce costumes for those shows.  She doesn't want to talk about either in too much detail:  "I can't say much about it yet, but the vibe is a little rock n' roll, a little dirty - but not stripper dirty.  I don't want people thinking this is what I would walk down the street in."

She almost seems relieved as we turn the conversation back to Gossip Girl - even if she's not at liberty to reveal much.  "All I can say is that everyone else is moving on - Jenny's going to be the only one still in high school, since everyone else will be in college," Momsen says.  "Whatever they end up doing, I'm sure there's going to be lots of drama."
--DIANE VADINO

See more Taylor in our Young Hollywood issue, on stands now.

Bonus: Watch Taylor on NYLON TV.
Serena and Blair hung out in our office, too!



This story was published on April 20, 2009.