Minka Kelly details ‘toxic’ romance with ‘Friday Night Lights’ co-star Taylor Kitsch

Minka Kelly reflects on her ‘toxic’ relationship with ‘Friday Night Lights’ co-star Taylor Kitsch.

In excerpts obtained by The Daily Beast from his upcoming memoir Tell Me Everything, the actor described a somewhat difficult working environment on set after the pair — whose failed on-screen relationship seemed to mirror theirs — broke up.

“All the effort I could have put into consistently connecting with the girls on the show went back to Taylor,” Kelly wrote in a chapter titled “Cancer,” according to the publication. “So when my relationship with Taylor turned toxic, I had no one to turn to.”

The NBC show centered around a high school football team in Texas, their involved families, coaches and tireless teachers. In her memoir, Kelly said that she and Kitsch, who played cheerleader Lyla Garrity and fullback Tim Riggins, “hit it off immediately.”

Kelly added that despite being warned by executive producer Peter Berg not to date her co-star, she has gone out and left the Kitsch “more times” than she cares to – and that “life became very difficult both on and off set. whenever Broken. ” during production.

“We were young and had very few tools to manage our own emotions and grievances,” Kelly wrote. “On the days we were supposed to work together and we were split up, she didn’t want to be in the hair and makeup trailer at the same time as me.”

Kelly added that they couldn’t even “get in the van together” to get around, where “everyone felt the awkwardness”. She stated that Kitsch was much more comfortable “sharing her feelings” with the rest of the cast whenever they broke up, which left Kelly isolated from the group.

The cast has come together well over the years.

“I would show up to work with a smile on my face, thinking I was a pro while everyone else felt sorry for the guy who just got his heart broken,” she wrote. “My colleagues didn’t take me out for drinks after work to mend my broken heart; took This one outside.”

Kelly added that her classmates also distanced themselves after her conflict with Kitsch, which essentially mirrored her character arc on the show, as Garrity was frequently rejected by her high school classmates throughout the four seasons.

The former couple’s relationship was only confirmed in 2018, when Kitsch told Andy Cohen that “they were both so raw” at the time and that “the stakes were crazy.” Meanwhile, Kelly admitted in her memoir that the aftermath taught her an important life lesson.

“Vulnerability breeds connection, as evidenced by the outcome of both coin mechanisms,” he wrote. “My tough guy approach left me alone. If you act like you don’t need anyone, if no one around you knows better, surely no one will.”

“Tell Me Everything” will hit stores on May 2nd.