Minka Kelly Early Life and Family Background:
Minka Kelly was raised in a show business family after being born in Los Angeles on June 24, 1980. Her mother, Maureen, was a former Las Vegas showgirl, and her father, Rick Dufay, played guitar for the renowned rock group Aerosmith on their 1982 album Rock in a Hard Place. Minka Kelly has even more ties to the entertainment industry because her grandparents were actress Greer Garson, who received an Academy Award for her role in Mrs. Miniver (1942), and actor Richard Ney.
Actress Minka Kelly, who rose to prominence in the mid-2000s as one of the most promising young stars on television, played both lead and powerful supporting parts in movies and television shows. Minka Kelly established herself with cameos on programs including What I including About You (The WB, 2000–06) before obtaining a permanent role on the highly regarded football drama series Friday Night Lights (NBC/DirectTV, 2006–11).
Her poignant depiction of Lyla Garrity, a high school cheerleader, won her accolades and led to film parts, such as in Peter Berg’s action-adventure The Kingdom (2007). Her romantic relationships with prominent people, such as actor Jesse Williams, artist John Mayer, and New York Yankees star Derek Jeter, have attracted media attention, though not necessarily in a positive way.
Minka Kelly starred in the college thriller The Roommate (2011) and appeared in one season of Parenthood (NBC, 2010–15). She later played the lead in the sci-fi thriller Almost Human (FOX, 2013–14) and led the cast of the brief revival of the iconic 1970s crime series Charlie’s Angels (ABC, 2011).
There were special benefits to having a father who was a musician. Steven Tyler, the lead vocalist of Aerosmith, would even watch her. She told Entertainment Weekly, “I loved it so much when he used to puff his cheeks out for me.” However, that joyful period was short-lived as her mother reared her by herself after her father eventually left the family.
Minka Kelly relocated to Los Angeles to live with her father after reuniting with him at the age of 17. She took acting classes for pleasure in addition to her studies to become a surgical technologist. She decided to pursue acting full-time after falling in love with it after just one class.
It took her some time to become well-known. Early in her career, Minka Kelly had brief appearances on programs including American Dreams (NBC, 2002–05) and Drake & Josh (Nickelodeon, 2004–07). She got a small recurring part in the comedy What I Like About You, which starred Jennie Garth and Amanda Bynes, in 2005. She has appeared in a few small films prior to her major break, such as State’s Evidence (2006) and Devil’s Highway (2005).
Kelly’s hard work paid off when she was chosen for the TV drama Friday Night Lights, which is based on Peter Berg’s 2004 film of the same name. Kelly played Lyla Garrity, the cheerleader fiancée of the school’s star quarterback, in the drama, which was set in a small Texas town that was fascinated with high school football. Minka Kelly trained with the Pflugerville High School cheer squad to prepare for the role after her character’s lover is crippled after the first game of senior year.
When she had an affair with the best friend of her crippled lover (played by Taylor Kitsch) in the first season, her character’s plot became especially memorable. Lyla graduated from high school and headed off to college before the end of season three. Despite being adored by reviewers, Friday Night Lights was sometimes in danger of being canceled due to its poor ratings. In the end, NBC gave it a fourth season renewal in 2009–2010, but Kelly only made a recurring appearance.
Kelly’s performance so impressed director Peter Berg that he hired her in his feature film The Kingdom, a thriller about an anti-terrorism unit looking into a bombing on a Western facility in Saudi Arabia. She collaborated with Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, and Jennifer Garner in her first high-profile film. Nevertheless, The Kingdom made less than $50 million at the movie office and had mixed reviews.
Kelly played a minor part in Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel’s love drama (500) Days of Summer in 2009. In the first season of Parenthood (NBC, 2010–15), she portrayed Gaby, a behavioral aide who works with the Braverman family’s young son Max, who was just diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.
In the 2011 thriller The Roommate, Kelly made a comeback to the big screen alongside Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl. The film tells the tale of a college student who is harassed by her obsessive roommate.
She co-starred as Eve French in ABC’s brief but eagerly awaited revival of the classic 1970s crime series Charlie’s Angels, following a minor role in the Adam Sandler–Jennifer Aniston romance comedy Just Go with It (2011).
Kelly featured in the one season of the science fiction thriller Almost Human (FOX, 2013–14) after playing Jackie Kennedy in director Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) and in the independent mystery Searching for Sonny (2011). Later, she starred in lesser-known movies including Papa: Hemingway in Cuba (2015) and The World Made Straight (2014), as well as the romantic comedy Jane the Virgin (The CW, 2014–) and the spiritual drama The Path (Hulu, 2016–).
Later, Kelly starred in the 2018 streaming series Titans as Dawn Granger.