Kat Dennings says casting directors were 'very harsh' about her appearance as child actor

Image is everything in showbiz, but Kat Dennings is grateful things aren't the way they used to be.

During an interview with People magazine published Thursday, the 38-year-old actress and "2 Broke Girls" alum reflected on her early acting days and Hollywood's "cruel" culture on body image in the early 2000s.

"The time that I was auditioning and starting to act, it was a very different environment than it is now," Dennings told the outlet. "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 landed her first TV role at the age of 14, playing Jenny Brier in a guest appearance on HBO's "Sex and the City" in September 2000. The following year, she scored a leading role in the Bob Saget-led sitcom "Raising Dad."

"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,' " Dennings recalled.

"It was pretty crazy thinking about it. I'm like, 'How can anyone say that about a little kid? This is insane,'" she added.

Despite the harsh critiques, Dennings said she didn't allow the commentary to "break my spirit."

"I was like, 'I'll show them,'" Dennings said with a laugh. "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.'"

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Following supporting roles in the films "Raise Your Voice" (2004), "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (2005) and "The House Bunny" (2008), as well as television appearances on "CSI: NY" and "ER," Dennings found her breakout role in 2008's "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist." The teen romantic comedy generated $33.6 million worldwide.

Dennings returned to the sitcom world in the early 2010s, starring opposite Beth Behrs on the CBS workplace comedy "2 Broke Girls." The Emmy-winning series ran for six seasons from 2011 to 2017.

The actress now stars on ABC's "Shifting Gears" alongside "Home Improvement" alum and perennial TV dad Tim Allen.

In her interview with People, Dennings mused that the entertainment industry has drastically changed its attitudes toward body image, noting the cultural climate is "'much softer, kinder' and more understanding."

"There's body positivity, there's inclusivity, there's representation, and there was none of that before," Dennings said. "It was really gross."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kat Dennings talks navigating body criticisms as child actor