It’s that wonderful time of the year again where we start to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and/or the winter solstice by sitting at tables, eating a lot of food, sitting on couches, and watching the same movies they show every year. There’s no Christmas tradition quite like watching The Sound of Music and Home Alone back-to-back, is there?
Another one of those legendary movies we tend to forget about the other 364 days of the year is How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The movie has been around since 2000, but was deemed so weird at the time that no one really gave it a fair shot. It did launch quite a few careers, though. Let’s take a look at some of the actors from that legendary movie and see what they’re doing now.
Taylor Momsen
Playing the small Cindy Lou Who that helped the Grinch discover the true meaning of Christmas, Momsen was only 7 years old at the time. The movie launched her career, and she went on to play in shows like Gossip Girl, but Taylor quit acting altogether to focus on her true passion as a rock artist in The Pretty Reckless.
Mindy Sterling
Playing the adoptive mom to the Grinch, Clarnella, Sterling was actually most known for playing loudmouth Frau Farbissina in Austin Powers. She’s one of the few actors who looks back on the whole makeup and prosthetics process in the movie with joy, saying the whole thing was magical. About a decade after the Grinch, Sterling mostly switched to doing voice work on projects like Minions and American Dad!, which she prefers because she just creates things with her voice and can’t rely on her body mannerisms.
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey didn’t need an introduction in 2000, and he doesn’t need an introduction now. Carrey loved playing the Grinch because he saw him as the ultimate outsider, and he had to spend hours each day to have the makeup done to become the iconic character. He even, at one point, contacted a Navy SEAL to learn some pain tolerance techniques just to deal with the very claustrophobic suit. Carrey’s career steamed on after 2000, and he still shows up in loads of high-profile movies, like the live-action Sonic movie.
Christine Baranski
No Christmas movie is complete without a romantic subplot, so it was up to Christine Baranski to play Martha May Whovier, the childhood sweetheart of the Grinch. Baranski was already well-known when the movie was released, having won an Emmy award in 1996. Despite her experience, she claims having been starstruck by the cast of the movie. She’s still a very active actress, having starred in shows like The Big Bang Theory.
Bill Irwin
Bill Irwin, playing Lou Lou Who, started out as a professional clown back in the 70s. It wasn’t until the Grinch movie that he got his first real break as an actor. One of his most vivid memories of being on set was that the days were very long, especially due to the extensive makeup and prosthetics. After starring in Grinch, he went on to do a lot of stuff in TV shows like Sesame Street and Law and Order, but he has also been doing a lot of theater work on the side.
Jeffrey Tambor
Already a big name when How The Grinch Stole Christmas was filmed, Jeffrey Tambor played the rival Augustus May Who. You probably know him better as that guy from Arrested Development, which is exactly who he was known as until 2018, when they had to fire him from the show because of sexual misconduct allegations.
