Minka Kelly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minka_Kelly

Minka Dumont Kelly is an American actress. She stars in the NBC series Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity. She is the only child of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay and the late Maureen Kelly, a former actress and Vegas showgirl. According to Kelly, her childhood was "pretty rough." She resented 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. She is of Dutch, Irish and French descent.

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. 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.

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 cheerleading squad. Kelly has received praise for her acting on Friday Night Lights, with 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 is the lead actor on the CW's new pilot Body Politic.

Minka joined forces with Sergio Alaverz, 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 and will play 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.