Minka Kelly, a major actress known for her roles in Friday Night Lights and Ransom Canyon, recently discussed her own retreat from Hollywood. Here’s what she had to say about how it felt, on her TV appearance on the Tuesday, April 22, episode of Today with Jenna & Friends. At 44 years old, Kelly gave us some insight into returning to her “Plan B” career. She once trained as an operating room scrub nurse before realizing her dreams of success on the silver screen.
Throughout the segment, the Today show’s co-hosts Jenna Hager Bush, 43, and guest host Andy Cohen, 56, couldn’t believe that Kelly was revealing as much. Now, Kelly thinks about going back to nursing all the time. The unpredictability of her film and TV career is what leads to thoughts like these. “And then if any amount of time passes, you’re like, ‘Okay, this is it. I had a good run. And that’s okay, everything’s okay. I have my backup. I can be a scrub tech again,” she stated.
Kelly’s recent public musings on her acting career show a more personal side to the long-held relationship she has with her start in healthcare. She expressed that for her being a scrub nurse makes her feel like a boss; it makes her feel confident. “So the rejection that you get being an actor is sort of balanced out for me and you can go, ‘But I’m good at this. I know I’m good at this,’” she noted.
Kelly spoke about her future career goals with excitement. We learned a great deal from her experience playing Quinn on Ransom Canyon, now available for streaming on Netflix. Her character is Josh Duhamel’s romantic foil, and she characterized their movie chemistry as “smooth as butter.” This casual camaraderie makes her feel sure of herself as an actress. Towne tells her story with incredible humor and gusto, deftly wrangling the bizarre highs and lows of Hollywood.
Kelly was frank about how brutal the business of show can be. She nodded when we talked about how at times, Hollywood has been intimidating. “You know that?” “Sure, it’s just — I’ve been thinking that [after] every job that’s done,” she confessed.
Even with these challenges, Kelly would still consider wearing her scrubs again if that was needed. Her willingness to go back to active nursing work speaks to both her versatility as an artist and her commitment to each of her callings.
“You know this isn’t the whole world,” – Minka Kelly