Daughter of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay, gorgeous Minka Kelly was born in Los Angeles but spent her childhood and high school years with her mother and stepfather in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Following reconciliation with Dufay, Minka moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s to live with her father and begin the climb to the top.
Acting classes led to bit parts on television, such as the Nickelodeon show “Drake & Josh,” in which Minka appeared on an episode in the show’s inaugural season. Her movie debut was in the low budget 2005 thriller from director Fabien Pruvot called “Devil’s Highway.” But when “Friday Night Lights” director Peter Berg was casting regulars for the TV series spin-off for NBC, he spotted Minka. In the pivotal role of cheerleader Lyla Garrity, Minka suddenly became a favorite of photographers on the red carpet and a regular on hot lists.
Peter Berg also brought Minka on for a brief role as a Washington D.C. schoolteacher in his action thriller “The Kingdom.” Minka has been linked with Chris Evans and John Mayer, a relationship that ended in January 2008. While Mayer has been established for quite some time now, Minka’s star is steadily rising, and will no doubt emerge in full force in the next decade.
We’re huge fans of Minka, and we named her as one of the 30 Sexiest TV Actresses of 2013.
More Minka
The camera absolutely loves this woman.
Minka Kelly
This beautiful actress is on our radar since she’s one of the most beautiful rising stars in Hollywood. She had a quick cameo in “Entourage” and we expect her to get some leading roles soon. .
Minka on Esquire
We have to hand it to our friends as Esquire who put together an amazing video of Minka in skimpy lingerie.
Minka on the Screen
While “Friday Night Lights” was Minka’s bread and butter for a couple seasons and the catalyst for Minka’s rising celebrity status, she worked her way up in cameos on television comedies like “Cracking Up” (a one-season FOX comedy from Mike White) and the Amanda Bynes sitcom “What I Like About You.” Before “The Kingdom,” she was part of three low budget films – “State’s Evidence,” “The Pumpkin Karver,” and “Devil’s Highway.”Minka was also in a reimagining of “Single White Female” called “The Roomate” alongside Hollywood looklike Leighton Meester.
Minka Says
On her father:
“I moved out to L.A. and stayed with him. He became my best friend. He’s taught me so much.”
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Minka starred in the 2011 TV reboot of “Charlie’s Angels,” but unfortunately the series was cancelled after just 4 episodes.
Here is Will Harris’s analysis of the cancellation:
What we said in our Fall Preview: “When it comes to new series and their eventual fate, this is probably the hardest to predict. On one hand, it’s a familiar property remembered fondly by children of the ’70s, which worked out well with ‘Hawaii Five-0.’ On the other hand, when they tried it with ‘The Bionic Woman,’ look what happened there…but, then, ‘The Bionic Woman’ wasn’t turned into a relatively successful film franchise like ‘Charlie’s Angels” was. Cast-wise, you’ve got a recognizable face in Minka Kelly, but her biggest claim to fame is ‘Friday Night Lights,’ a series that was never watched by nearly as many viewers as it should have been. Y’see what I mean? It’s really hard to say how audiences are going to react, especially given that it’s going to be up against the second night of ‘The X Factor’ and the established comedy blocks on CBS and NBC. I will say, however, that the pilot is played straight, with very little of the winking at the audience that seemed to be going on in the feature films, and if you’re a TV geek, that’s actually kind of intriguing. Plus, it’s full of action and, lest we forget, three ladies who are decidedly easy on the eyes. Worth checking out, but whether it succeeds for the long haul is too close to call.”
Cancellation surprise level: 50%. “It had rough competition, but it also had name recognition, so it really could’ve gone either way. Given the gentlemen behind the scenes (Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, late of “Smallville”) I’d hoped it might have a chance to take flight (angel pun fully intended), but I guess the lack of any real matinee name made it hard for viewers to switch over and give it a chance. If only they’d used the first episode to tie the new series into either the original series or the movie franchise, I think the novelty value would’ve been enough to secure at least a full season. Oh, well.”