“Everything’s Gonna Be Okay”: Minka Kelly Pens Emotional Message to Her Younger Self

Minka Kelly celebrated her 44th birthday with a positive affirmation. She looked back on her professional and personal journey. The actress recently wrapped her new Netflix series Ransom Canyon with Josh Duhamel. The Friday Night Lights star wrote a touching message on Instagram on June 24. She shared an old throwback image along with other production photos and wrote:

“If I could have spoken to the brave young girl I was at Valley High School, this is what I would have said: Hey, sweetie, guess what. In twenty years or so, everything will be fine. More than good! » You will feel safe enough to finally let your guard down. You will release all the survival mechanisms that have kept you safe for so long, because you will no longer need them. Your heart will be wide open and you will be so in love with your life. Personally and professionally. »

Learn about Kelly’s early life struggles from her parents Maureen Kelly and Rick Dufay

Kelly’s career path has been fraught with challenges. She revealed in her 2023 memoir Tell Me Everything that she had a difficult childhood. Kelly spoke to PEOPLE ahead of her memoir’s release: “My “My childhood was colorful and chaotic, unstable and inconsistent, unpredictable and difficult most of the time. But on the bright side, it made me a very adaptable person.” Kelly was raised by her mother Maureen, an exotic dancer at the Crazy Girls strip club in Los Angeles. Her father Rick Dufay was a guitarist known for playing with Aerosmith in the 80s. Unfortunately, Minka and her father built a relationship later in life.

Minka Kelly on finding peace at 44

She continued: “There’s going to be this cool company called Netflix and they’re going to build huge fancy studios about 15 minutes from here and you’re going to shoot a big fancy TV show with some of the coolest and most talented people. the cast and crew your little heart could dream of and you’re all going to love each other so much!!!”. You are going to grow so much and you are going to deserve all the joy and romantic fulfillment that you will have. have in your life when you turn 44. It seems very far away, but everything is happening so quickly. And it will all be divinely timed. All the clichés are true. None of this makes sense right now, but it will. I promise. You have it. » Kelly reflected on her life, saying she was “exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

She felt happy on her birthday and was at peace. She wrote, “This is all I ever wanted. Peace and quiet for my nervous system. Finally. Grateful isn’t even strong enough. But thank you anyway. I love you. See you in 2025 🤠♥️.” She was previously romantically linked to Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds.

Minka Kelly’s candid memoir about courage and creating a legacy

Kelly’s childhood was filled with hardship, watching her mother work hard to earn money and overcome addiction and domestic violence. She bravely explained that at 17, she was performing in peep shows at an adult video store in Albuquerque to earn money. She faced the shame and past judgment with courage, saying, “I started with the scariest part. The part I was most ashamed of, the part I felt most embarrassed about, the part I’ve hidden my whole life, and that’s the part that people make me feel bad about and I felt like that’s where I had to be the bravest.”

Kelly had a breakout role on Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity, which aired for five seasons between 2006 and 2011. She went on to star in TV and film projects like Almost Human, The Butler, Euphoria, and Jane the Virgin, to name a few. Kelly will also star in Netflix’s Ransom Canyon, a romantic drama with a contemporary Western saga. It stars Duhamel and James Brolin and was created, written, and executive produced by April Blair.