American actress Minka Kelly was born on June 24, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay, and has described her childhood as a rough one. She held resentment for Dufay early on for abandoning her with her mother, but reconciled with him when she was seventeen. Kelly began her acting career upon graduating from high school. She went on to pursue acting as a hobby, while going to school to become a surgical technician. She soon got bitten by the acting bug and pursued it as a career instead.
Minka Kelly began slowly in the showbiz industry, landing small roles on several television shows. She made appearances on Cracking Up, Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh and American Dreams. In 2005, she found herself working on the thriller Devil’s Highway. She also received a guest-starring role on the TV program What I Like About You, working alongside Amanda Bynes and Jennie Garth. In the spring of 2006, Minka Kelly was cast as Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights. Her character is a cheerleader for the Panthers, and is the girlfriend of Jason Street, played by Scott Porter. To prepare for the role, Kelly trained with the Pflugerville High School cheerleading squad. She has also received praise for her role, earning her some critical applause. The New York Times even called her performance “heartbreaking.” Some of Minka Kelly’s other film credits include The Kingdom in 2007, a thriller starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. She got the cameo role because the creator and pilot director of Friday Night Lights was the director of the film. Kelly was also given roles in State’s Evidence with Alexa Vega, and the horror The Pumpkin Karver. Her next project became a comedy titled 500 Days of Summer starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
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