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It’s been 25 years since the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes!
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, an adaptation of the author’s 1957 book, became a holiday classic when it premiered on Nov. 17, 2000. The Christmas live-action film, which was directed by Ron Howard, stars Jim Carrey as the Grinch, the anti-Christmas villain who torments the holiday-obsessed citizens of Whoville.
However, the town gets turned upside down when a little girl named Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) befriends the Grinch and tries to convince the town to give him another chance. Along the way, the Grinch and Cindy face several doubters of the Grinch’s authenticity — including Cindy’s parents, Lou Lou Who (Bill Irwin) and Betty Lou Who (Molly Shannon) and the mayor, Augustus MayWho (Jeffrey Tambor).
After the town rejects the Grinch, he decides to get his ultimate revenge by stealing every possible remnant of Christmas. Thankfully, Cindy’s kindness toward the Grinch results in his heart growing three sizes, and he returns all the presents and decor. The Grinch also gets to live out his childhood crush with Martha May Whovier (Christine Baranski).
Over two decades after the movie premiered, in November 2025, Carrey and Momsen reunited at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and smiled for photos together.
Here’s everything to know about where the Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas cast is now, 25 years after its premiere.
Jim Carrey as the Grinch
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Carrey was nearly unrecognizable when he transformed into the Grinch. For the role, he wore several layers of green makeup over green faux fur and heavy prosthetics.
The Liar Liar star was among a slew of actors — including Robin Williams, Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy — who were considered for the role. He was named as one of the few actors who could play the Grinch because Seuss, who died in 1991, had specific guidelines for the dimensions of the character.
Carrey received praise for his portrayal of the Grinch and was even nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe Award for the role. He continued starring in blockbuster films such as Bruce Almighty, Yes Man and the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
In the 2010s, Carrey took a step back from acting and even teased retiring in 2022. However, he later told the Associated Press that that “might have been hyperbole.”
As for his personal life, Carrey is a dad to one child, daughter Jane Erin Carrey, whom he welcomed with then-wife Melissa Womer in 1987. In 2010, he became a grandfather when Jane had a son.
Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who
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Momsen was just 5 years old when she started filming How the Grinch Stole Christmas. When she and Carrey reunited at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in November 2025, she spoke with PEOPLE about some of her favorite memories working with him on the film.
“I have a lot, honestly,” Momsen recalled. “I just love that he was very protective of me. He was always very kind. And just the entire experience of filming Grinch and getting to know him so well, even in all the makeup, was just wonderful.”
She added, “As a young person watching an artist at work and taking their craft so seriously, that left a really powerful, lasting impact on me as an adult now. And I’m excited to be able to tell him that as a grownup.”
The role helped launch Momsen’s career, and she subsequently acted in Spy Kids 2, Underdog and Gossip Girl. However, she retired from acting in 2011 to focus on music and is the lead singer of the rock band the Pretty Reckless, which she created in 2009.
Christine Baranski as Martha May Whovier
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When Baranski touched down in Whoville, she had already won an Emmy for her role in the sitcom Cybill. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Baranski portrayed Martha May Whovier, the popular girl in school who always secretly had a crush on the Grinch.
She has continued acting in several award-winning shows and movies, including The Good Wife, The Good Fight, The Gilded Age, Mamma Mia! and The Big Bang Theory. She also starred in several Broadway plays and musicals and won two Tony Awards for her roles in The Real Thing and Rumors.
The award-winning actress was married to Matthew Cowles from 1983 until he died in 2014, and they had two daughters: Isabel and Lily — who is also an actress.
Jeffrey Tambor as Augustus MayWho
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Tambor is a lifelong actor who played the evil mayor of Whoville, Augustus MayWho. Prior to his role in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, he rose to fame on The Ropers, The Larry Sanders Show and There’s Something About Mary.
Tambor later became known for his appearances on Arrested Development and Transparent — for which he won two Emmys and a Golden Globe. In addition to his various acting film credits, he’s also done voice acting in movies including Trolls and Tangled.
In November 2017, several women accused Tambor of sexual misconduct, and he was fired from Transparent a few months later.
Tambor has denied the allegations but admitted to having lifelong anger issues and being “difficult” and “mean” in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in May 2018.
Bill Irwin as Lou Lou Who
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Irwin plays a crucial role as Cindy’s dad, Lou Lou Who, who goes from fearing the Grinch to embracing him. Irwin, who is also a choreographer and a clown, appeared as a supporting actor in various films before acting in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
In 2022, he reflected on filming the movie and said that his favorite part was getting to be surrounded by a “whole collection of circus people.”
“We actually did ‘Who School,’ so we got used to these costumes and how to make them work,” Irwin told The Imperial Hotel Cork in 2022. There were circus people there, so that was a thrill.”
Irwin went on to act in various plays and musicals as both an actor and a theatrical clown and won a Tony Award for his role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 2005.
As for his personal life, Irwin is married to Martha Roth, and they adopted a son, Santos Patrick Morales Irwin, who was born in 1991.
Molly Shannon as Betty Lou Who
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When Shannon portrayed Betty, she had already gotten her start as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. In addition to her supporting role in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Shannon also appeared in A Night at the Roxbury, Never Been Kissed and Wet Hot American Summer around the same time.
“I got cast in that while I was shooting Saturday Night Live so I was doing both at the same time. I would fly back and forth and it was so hard!” Shannon told Entertainment Weekly in 2022. “I would shoot the Grinch Monday through Friday and then get on a red eye Friday night to do [SNL] Saturday … It was really hard, but the fact that I pulled that off — shooting both those giant jobs at once — is a miracle.”
After playing the matriarch Lou Who, Shannon continued rising to fame and starred in Talladega Nights, Divorce, The White Lotus and Only Murders in the Building — for which she won her first Screen Actors Guild Award.
Off-screen, Shannon has been married to her husband, Fritz Chesnut, since 2004, and the couple share two children: daughter Stella Shannon Chesnut and son Nolan Shannon Chesnut.
