Minka Kelly life and biography

Minka Dumont Kelly is an American actress. She starred in the NBC series Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity from 2006 to 2009.

Early life

Kelly was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the only child of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay and the late Maureen Kelly, an exotic dancer and single mother who often moved with her daughter to different communities before settling in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by the time Minka was in junior high school. Kelly has recalled her childhood as "pretty rough". She resented Dufay, as he had abandoned her and her mother. However, at seventeen, she attempted to reconcile with him by inviting him to New Mexico. She is of Irish and French descent.

Minka's Career

At 19, after graduating from high school, Kelly returned to Los Angeles. While on a test shoot for a modeling agency, she was approached by a former Playboy Playmate interested in managing her, and who placed Kelly as a receptionist at a surgeon's office who would provide Kelly breast augmentation in exchange for hours worked. Kelly changed her mind about having the procedure and was fired; she then attended school for a year to become a surgeon's assistant, and then worked as a scrub tech. She spent four years in that vocation while also auditioning as an actress before landing the new NBC television drama Friday Night Lights, based on the high school football movie of that name. In the interim, she had small roles in movies and shows, including the film State's Evidence, and a recurring-guest role on the TV sitcom What I Like About You.

In preparation for her role as cheerleader Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights, she trained with the Pflugerville High School cheerleading squad. Kelly received praise for her acting on the series, with the The New York Times calling her performance "heartbreaking".

She shot a cameo for The Kingdom, alongside Jamie Foxx. Peter Berg, the creator and pilot director of Friday Night Lights, directed the film. Kelly was the lead actor on the The CW's 2009 pilot Body Politic which did not go to series.

Minka joined forces with Alyson Hannigan, Jaime King, Emily Deschanel, and Katharine McPhee in a video slumber party featured on FunnyorDie.com to promote regular breast cancer screenings for the organization Stand Up 2 Cancer.

Minka Kelly landed a role in the CBS comedy pilot True Love as Kate, a Midwestern girl who falls in love with Henry — part of the quartet in the ensemble show — at the top of the Empire State Building, but was replaced by Sarah Chalke.
The actress currently guest stars in the NBC primetime series Parenthood.
Minka was named 'Sexiest Woman Alive' by Esquire magazine for 2010.

Personal life

Kelly dated Alex Galvin in 2003 and Dylan Brazil in 2005, and had relationships with actors Chris Evans and Donald Faison. She dated musician John Mayer from September 2007 to January 2008. As of 2010, she has been dating New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter for some time.

Filmography

2004 Turbo-Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious
2005 Devil's Highway
2006 The Pumpkin Karver
2007 The Kingdom
2009 (500) Days of Summer
2010 The Roommate
2010 Searching for Sonny

Television

2004
Cracking Up
Drake & Josh
2005
American Dreams
What I Like About You
2006-present Friday Night Lights
2009 Body Politic
2010 Parenthood (2010 TV series)
2010 Entourage Herself
2010 Mad Love

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