Thor and WandaVision actor Kat Dennings said the entertainment business used to be an "insane" place when she began acting 25 years ago. In an interview with PEOPLE, Dennings recalled that casting agents from the industry weren't sensitive to newbies, including children, auditioning for roles.
“The time that I was auditioning and starting to act... it was a very different environment than it is now. 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,” she said.
Dennings feels that Hollywood has now become "more inclusive" compared to the past when casting directors behaved harshly with even children. “It was pretty crazy thinking about it. I’m like, ‘How can anyone say that about a little kid? This is insane.’ 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.'”
The actor made her acting debut as a 13-year-old in the episode 'Hot Child in the City' of the popular show Sex and the City.
Dennings added that it was her "very strong" outlook, with tremendous support from parents, that helped her navigate the "cruel" environment. “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.'”
Dennings feels that Hollywood has now become "more inclusive" compared to the past. “There’s body positivity, there’s inclusivity, there’s representation, and there was none of that before. It was really gross.”
