Kat Dennings learned to have thick skin in Hollywood at an early age.
The actress, 38, recalled the ultra-harsh criticism she received from casting directors who would label her as not “pretty enough” and that she was “fat” at 12 years old.
“The time that I was auditioning and starting to act, it was a very different environment than it is now,” she told People.
“There was not a lot of inclusivity at all. It was very harsh. There was a lot of extremely negative feedback and people would not hold back.”
Dennings said that casting directors would often say “very cruel” things to her, even though they were “talking about a child.”
“It was pretty crazy thinking about it. I’m like, ‘How can anyone say that about a little kid? This is insane,’” she recalled.
“For example, I was 12. I’d go into an audition and I’d do it, and my manager would call me and I’d be like, ‘How’d it go?’ And they’d be like, ‘Well, they thought you weren’t pretty enough and you’re fat.’”
However, the harsh remarks did not have an impact on Dennings’ confidence.
“That was my attitude,” she told the outlet. “For some reason, it didn’t break my spirit. I was like, ‘I’ll show them.’”
“I guess props to my parents, because they were like, ‘They’re idiots. Don’t listen to them.’ And I was like, ‘They’re idiots, I’m not.’”
And when it comes to making comparisons, Dennings insists that today’s world is “much softer, kinder” to actors compared to the “completely insane” environment in the 1990s.
“There’s body positivity, there’s inclusivity, there’s representation, and there was none of that before. It was really gross,” she added.
Dennings, who kickstarted her onscreen career at the age of 9, got her first big acting credit give years later when she landed a role in an episode of “Sex and the City.”
After appearing alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon on the hit HBO show, Dennings went on to land her big break — a role in the hit sitcom, “2 Broke Girls.”
Dennings is now gearing up to star alongside Tim Allen in the new sitcom, “Shifting Gears.”
