Momsen: 'People don't take me seriously'

Taylor Momsen has said that she is fed up with people refusing to take her seriously because of her age.

The 16-year-old Gossip Girl star first got her break in the acting world with a starring role in 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas and admitted that she has struggled to shed her reputation as a 'child star' since.

However, she insisted that she knows her own mind despite her tender years and is eager for audiences to respect her band The Pretty Reckless as a fully-fledged outfit.

She told Seventeen magazine: "I think people don't really take me seriously because I'm 16. And they think most 16-year-olds don't know what they want to do.

"But I actually really do, because I've been thinking about it since I was 2... I love working. I'm a workaholic, and no-one believes it. I'm in the recording studio until three in the morning.

"I am angsty. I'll be angsty until I'm 80 years old. I think that keeps things fresh. But I always think angst is such a derogatory word toward teenagers. It just means you're figuring s**t out, and I don't know why that's a negative thing."

> Momsen: 'My music is like my diaries'