Not just run-of-the-mill beautiful or simply "hot". She's in the same league as Jane Seymour, meaning classically and universally beautiful. She's the kind of woman who takes your breath away when she enters a room.

This explains why we tune in weekly to watch her on NBC's high school football drama "Friday Night Lights", where she portrays Lyla Garrity, a cheerleader and girlfriend of star quarterback Jason Street. Minka is one-third of the reason for lady-watchers to watch the show. The other two reasons are blondes Adrianne Palicki and Aimee Teegarden.

If this show doesn't come back for a second season, it will be a travesty, if only because we won't be able to watch Minka in that sexy cheerleader outfit anymore. Her character has dealt with her boyfriend becoming paralyzed and finding comfort in the arms of another player.

No stranger to the camera lens, Minka has had a successful career in modeling and television commercials. She had a recurring role on the WB's "What I Like About You," and has guest-starred on NBC's "American Dreams" and Fox's "Cracking Up." Her television debut was on Nickelodeon's hit show "Drake and Josh."

We predict great things to come for Minka, who Savvy predicted might become the next Eva Longoria TV sensation. If her show can get some momentum, the buzz should follow once more people see her.

What She's Doing Now

The Kingdom - Filming has completed on this movie, where Minka will co-star with Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven, and Brooke Langton. The movie is about a team of U.S. government agents sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East. Watch for it fall of 2007. She reportedly also completed shooting a lead role in the independent feature The Dinner Party. Could leading lady stardom be far behind?

Why We Like Her

She's beautiful, talented and lets grown men lust after a sexy high school cheerleader (guilt-free with the knowledge that she's actually 26-years-old!).

What She Has Done

"Friday Night Lights" .... Lyla Garrity

State's Evidence (2006) ....

The Pumpkin Karver (2006) .... Tammy

"What I Like About You" (2005) .... Ricki

"American Dreams" (2005) .... Bonnie

Devil's Highway (2005) .... River

"Drake & Josh" (2004) .... Stacey

"Cracking Up" (2004) .... Monica

Factoid

Born: June 24, 1980.

She currently lives in Los Angeles.

She's the daughter of Rick Dufay, once a member of the band Aerosmith (1981-84) and a former Vegas showgirl. During her childhood, she harbored a resentment that her father abandoned her and her mother. When she was 17, Minka sought to connect with her father, whom she had only met, but never really knew. She moved from Albuquerque to live with him.

She described her childhood as "pretty rough".

She dated actor Donald Faison (Turk from "Scrubs") in 2005.

Before thinking about making acting her everyday job, she was considering acting as a hobby. She wanted a career that would allow her to express or release her emotions.

She said the sports theme of the show "Friday Night Lights" has been educational for her. She reportedly loves football.

To prepare for the role, she trained with the cheerleading squad from the Pflugerville High School in Texas.

She said the show has given her the opportunity to go back and relive life in high school. She said it's like she never left because she is "young at heart".

In school, she trained to become a surgical technologist.

She did hundreds of auditions before landing her first major role on the hit kid comedy show "Drake & Josh".

Quotables

"I found myself more attracted to the drama. It's a lot more real, at least for me. I believe in it more for real life. Sitcom is a lot of fun, but it's a lot of slapstick. I like making material that people can relate to and see how I'm going through it or my character deals with it. I was in high school, I was so eager to be a grownup. I was so ready to get out of there. Now I'm able to embrace life and those experiences."

"I didn't really grow up with my dad. I met my dad a couple of times throughout my life. When my mom was pregnant with me, he was in Aerosmith and didn't want to have anything to do with it. It was pretty much my mom and me; the two of us. I was really mad at him for leaving... I wanted to know who he was. He was in L.A. and he came out to New Mexico. When I was ready to get out of Albuquerque (after high school), he gave me an option to stay with him. I moved out to L.A. and stayed with him. He became my best friend. He's taught me so much."

"When I went to high school in Albuquerque, there weren't many sports in my life. My mom and step dad weren't into sports at all. I was very sheltered from all that. I didn't grow up going to football games and I didn't know any football teams. Now I'm a huge fan. I love football. Whenever I'm surfing channels, now that I do understand it, I have that attraction watching. It's a lot of fun for me now. I get another chance with that, too."

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- All the quotes and information here were either directly obtained by Savvy.com or found from sources on the Internet deemed to be within the public domain.