Minka Kelly Biography

Minka Kelly (born Minka Dumont Dufay; June 24, 1980) is an American actress. She is most known for her roles in the television shows Friday Night Lights (2006-2009), Parenthood (2010-2011), Charlie's Angels (2011) and Almost Human (2013). Kelly stars as Dawn Granger / Dove in Titans (2018-present).

Early life

Kelly was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the only child of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay and the late Maureen Dumont Kelly. Kelly and her mother moved to various communities before settling in Chicago by the time Kelly was in junior high school. She has French, Irish and Dutch-Indonesian ancestry.

Career

After graduating from Valley High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kelly returned to Los Angeles. While on a test shoot for a modeling agency, she was approached by a former Playboy Playmate who was 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. She ultimately decided against the procedure, leading to her being fired. That exposure to the medical field prompted her to attend school for a year to become a surgeon's assistant; afterward, she worked as a scrub technician. During the four years she spent in that vocation she continued auditioning for film and television roles.

In 2003, Kelly made her acting debut as an extra in the short film The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious, a six-minute introduction to the action film 2 Fast 2 Furious. This was followed by a guest appearance on Cracking Up. She has since appeared in a number of television shows such as Entourage, Drake & Josh and American Dreams. In 2005, Kelly landed a three-episode recurring role on The WB comedy series What I Like About You.

In April 2006, Kelly was cast as a series regular on the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights. The show, based on the high school football film of the same name, follows a high school football team in the fictional small town of Dillon. Kelly played the role of high school student and cheerleader Lyla Garrity. In preparation for her role as a cheerleader she trained with the Pflugerville High School cheerleading squad. The series premiered on October 3, 2006, with Kelly receiving praise for her performance with The New York Times calling her performance "heartbreaking." At the end of the show's third season Kelly left the series as her character left for college.

In 2006, Kelly starred in the horror slasher film The Pumpkin Karver, and had a bit role in State's Evidence. In 2007, she reunited with Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg in the film The Kingdom in a cameo role as Ms. Ross alongside Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner. In 2009, she also made a cameo in the film, 500 Days of Summer.

In August 2008, Kelly was cast as the protagonist in The CW pilot Body Politic. She played the role of Francesca "Frankie" Foster, who moves to Washington, D.C. to work for a senator and befriends a group of eager up-and-comers. Despite acclaim from critics who viewed the pilot, The CW did not pick up the series. Kelly also appeared in the pilot for the short-lived CBS ensemble comedy series Mad Love playing the role of Kate, a Midwestern girl who falls in love with Henry at the top of the Empire State Building. When the show was picked up, Kelly was replaced by Sarah Chalke.

In April 2010, Kelly appeared on the NBC drama series Parenthood. She played the role of a behavioral aide to the child character Max who is diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Kelly went on to appear in nine episodes of the show before making her final appearance in the episode "Taking the Leap" which aired on March 29, 2011. That same year, Kelly was named "Sexiest Woman Alive" in the annual Esquire magazine feature. She accepted a role in the Off Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore for an April 27-29, 2011, run with Conchata Ferrell, AnnaLynne McCord, Anne Meara and B. Smith.

In December 2010, ABC announced that Kelly was cast in the planned reboot of the crime drama series Charlie's Angels. She played the role of street racer Eve French. The pilot was filmed in March 2011 and the series was picked up on May 13, 2011. Charlie's Angels premiered on September 22, 2011, to over 8.76 million viewers. The series received unanimously negative reviews from critics. Despite a planned 13 episodes, ABC cancelled the series after the premiere of the fourth episode due to low ratings. The series concluded on November 10, 2011.

Kelly starred in the 2011 thriller The Roommate. The film follows a college freshman whose roommate has an obsession with her that turns violent. The film also starred Leighton Meester and went on to make over $15.6 million in its opening weekend and over $40 million worldwide. The film was universally panned and was considered a "cheap remake" of the 1992 film Single White Female.

Variety announced that Kelly was cast as the lead in the mystery comedy movie Searching for Sonny. The film follows two reunited friends who are suspects in a murder mystery that is similar to a play in which they appeared during high school. Production took place in May and June 2010 in Fort Worth, Texas. The film won the "Best Narrative Feature" Award at the Festivus Film Festival.

She joined an eight-day, four-country United Service Organizations tour in December 2011 with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey, Robert Horry, Jordin Sparks, Thomas Miles, and Sergeant Major Bryan Battaglia. In February 2012, she was one of the celebrities who modeled in red dresses for The Heart Truth Red Dress Collection show, part of New York Fashion Week. She wore a Diane von Frstenberg dress. In June 2012, Kelly appeared in the music video for "One More Night" by Maroon 5. In 2013, Kelly appeared in the film The Butler as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

In September 2017, it was announced that Kelly had been cast in the DC Universe live-action web television series Titans, as Dawn Granger / Dove.

Personal life

From May 2008 to August 2011, she was in a relationship with former New York Yankees baseball player Derek Jeter.

Kelly's mother Maureen died in 2008, at age 51, from colon cancer.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious	The Girl	Uncredited, short film
2005	Devil's Highway	River
2006	The Pumpkin Karver	Tammy Boyles
2006	State's Evidence	Girl #3
2007	The Kingdom	Miss Ross
2009	500 Days of Summer	Autumn
2011	The Roommate	Sara Matthews	Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Scared-As-S**t Performance Nominated - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress in a Drama
2011	Just Go with It	Joanna Damon
2011	Searching for Sonny	Eden Mercer
2013	The Butler	Jackie Kennedy
2014	The World Made Straight	Dena
2015	Papa: Hemingway in Cuba	Debbie Hunt
2015	Away and Back	Ginny
2017	Naked	Callie	Uncredited
2018	Nomis
2019	She's in Portland	Sarah
2019	Shady Friend	Kara	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Cracking Up	Monica	Episode: "Panic House"
2004	Drake & Josh	Stacey	Episode: "Movie Job"
2005	American Dreams	Bonnie	Episode: "Home Again"
2005	What I Like About You	Ricki	3 episodes
2006-2009	Friday Night Lights	Lyla Garrity	Main role; 50 episodes
2009	Body Politic	Francesca "Frankie" Foster	Unaired The CW pilot
2010-2011	Parenthood	Gaby	9 episodes
2010	Entourage	Herself	Episode: "Lose Yourself"
2011	Charlie's Angels	Eve French	Main role; 8 episodes
2013-2014	Almost Human	Valerie Stahl	Main role; 13 episodes
2015	Man Seeking Woman	Whitney	Episode: "Sizzurp"
2016	The Path	Miranda Frank	4 episodes
2017	Jane the Virgin	Abbey Whitman	3 episodes
2017	Bull	Kara Clayton	Episode: "School for Scandal"
2018	The Beach House	Cara Rudland	Television film
2018-present	Titans	Dawn Granger / Dove	Recurring role

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist
2002	"If You C Jordan"	Something Corporate
	"She Hates Me"	Puddle of Mudd
2012	"One More Night"	Maroon 5

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Detroit: Become Human	North	Voice acting and motion capture