Minka Kelly

Minka Dumont Kelly is an American actress born on June 24, 1980, in Los Angeles. She is the only child of Maureen Dumont Kelly and former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay. Raised primarily by her mother, Kelly spent part of her youth in New Mexico before graduating from Valley High School in Albuquerque. She later relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked as a receptionist and studied for a year to become a surgical technician, assisting surgeons in operating rooms for four years while taking acting classes and auditioning.

Kelly made her acting debut in 2003 in the short film The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious. Following guest and recurring appearances on television shows such as Entourage, Drake & Josh, American Dreams, and What I Like About You, she secured her breakout role in 2006 as Lyla Garrity in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights, appearing as a series regular through its third season.

Following her breakthrough, Kelly appeared in the films 500 Days of Summer (2009), The Roommate (2011), and Searching for Sonny (2011). Her television projects during this period included a recurring role as Gaby on NBC's Parenthood, starring as Eve French in the 2011 reboot of Charlie's Angels, and playing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the 2013 film The Butler. Between 2018 and 2021, she portrayed Dawn Granger / Dove in the DC Universe series Titans, and in 2018, she voiced and performed the character North in the video game Detroit: Become Human.

Her later acting projects include playing Samantha in the HBO drama series Euphoria in 2022 and starring as concert pianist Quinn in the Netflix romantic western series Ransom Canyon. Kelly has also starred in feature films including the psychological thriller Blackwater Lane (2024) and the romantic comedy Champagne Problems (2025).

In 2023, Kelly authored her memoir, Tell Me Everything, published by Henry Holt and Company. The book reached number 12 on The New York Times non-fiction best-seller list and was named Best Memoir of 2023 by The Washington Post, Best Celebrity Memoir of 2023 by Audible for her narration, and a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Memoir & Autobiography.