Minka Kelly

Minka Kelly Born June 24, 1980(1980-06-24) (age 27)
Los Angeles, California

Minka Kelly (born June 24, 1980) is an American actress. She currently stars in the NBC series Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Career credits
- 4.1 Filmography
- 4.2 Television
5 Footnotes
6 External links

Early life

Minka Kelly was born in Los Angeles, California.[1]She is an only child and the daughter of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay.[2] According to Kelly, her childhood was "pretty rough," and she held a resentment for Dufay, as he had abandoned her and her mother. However, at seventeen, she decided to try and reconcile by inviting him out to New Mexico.[3]

Career

After graduating from high school, Kelly returned to Los Angeles with her father to pursue acting as a hobby while she went to school to become a surgical technician. However, after her first acting class she got "hooked" and began pursuing acting as a career.[3] Success came slowly, and she began her career with small roles in various movies and shows, including the film State's Evidence, and a recurring-guest role on the TV program What I Like About You.[2]

Minka Kelly as Lyla Garrity and Scott Porter as Jason Street on the episode "Best Laid Plans" on Friday Night Lights.

In the spring she was cast as Lyla Garrity on the show Friday Night Lights. In preparation for the role, she trained with the Pflugerville High School cheeleading squad.[1] Kelly has received praise for her acting on Friday Night Lights, with the New York Times calling her performance "heartbreaking".[4]

She recently finished shooting Universal's The Kingdom, in a small cameo role alongside Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper. Peter Berg, who was also the director of Friday Night Lights, directed the film.[5]

Personal life

Kelly dated Donald Faison in 2005,[6] and had a relationship with actor Chris Evans, as well. In September 2007, she began dating musician John Mayer. Their break-up was reported by People.com on January 9, 2008.[7][8]

According to the New York Post, Minka is currently dating Derek Jeter.[citation needed] According to TMZ.com, Minka Kelly's friends report that this rumor is completely false.[citation needed]

Career credits

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes 2003 2 Fast 2 FuriousPrelude 2005 Devil's HighwayRiver 2006 The Pumpkin Karver Tammy State's Evidence2007 The KingdomMs. Ross 2008 500 Days of Summer

Television

Year Title Role Notes 2004 Cracking UpMonica one episode Drake & JoshStacey one episode 2005 American DreamsBonnie one episode What I Like About YouRicki three episodes 2006-present Friday Night LightsLyla Garrity major role

Footnotes

^ a b No byline (2007). "Minka Kelly" AskMen.com. Retrieved October 2, 2007
^ a b Sturtz, Rachel (November 2006), "FUNNY JOKE FROM A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN". Esquire. 146 (5):41
^ a b Dalton, Kyle (October 2006), "Getting a Second Chance". Capital City Sports Report (18):12-14
^ No byline (2006). "Full Biography" NYTimes.com. Retrieved October 2, 2007
^ Hefferan, Virginia (December 29, 2006), "You Can Find 'Friday Night Light' on Monday, Tuesday … Even Friday Night". New York Times. 156 (53808):E37
^ Savvy staff writers (2006). "Minka Kelly" Savvy.com. Retrieved October 2, 2007
^ No byline. (October 1, 2007) "HAND IN HAND" People.com. Retrieved October 1, 2007
^ No byline. (October 2, 2007) "Caught in the Act!" People.com. Retrieved October 1, 2007