Minka Kelly fought bad guys onscreen in Charlie’s Angels, but offscreen she’s made another type of killer her target: heart disease. The actress teamed up with Diet Coke on The Heart Truth campaign to increase awareness, especially among women, and agreed to walk the Red Dress Collection Fashion Show on February 8. She was joined on the runway by a range of celebrities, including Christie Brinkley and Rebecca Romijn, and chatted with us about how she keeps her exercise routine interesting and why you will almost always see her wearing a pair of heels.
ELLE: It’s just a few hours until the runway show—do you have any sort of pre-event routine?
Minka Kelly: I know, don’t remind me! I have no routine because walking on a runway is not what I do—I wish I did! I’m just going to wing it and hope for the best, and hope that my Diane von Furstenberg dress does all the work for me. The dress is gorgeous—it’s a floor-length, sequined, wrap gown. I don’t have to do much. Of course, I’m nervous; I’m always nervous for anything I have to do, but I’m OK with that because it means I care.
ELLE: Is there anyone walking with you tonight who you’re excited to see?
MK: I’m excited to see Chaka Khan!
ELLE: Are you a big fan?
MK: Heck yeah, who isn’t?! “I feel for you!” [singing]
ELLE: You have a nice voice! Having worked with a few different organizations in the past, including Stand Up To Cancer and the USO, what made you interested in doing something with the Heart Truth?
MK: When they reached out to me about being ambassador for the campaign, I didn’t know that heart disease was the number one killer in women—and that affected me. I thought it was important to raise awareness as best as I can and let as many women as I can know about this danger. I tend to be pretty conscious of my health and my exercise mainly because I really like to eat a lot, so I have to balance it out with how I work it out.
ELLE: Are you pretty active?
MK: I like to be as active as I can. I get bored quickly, so I do like changing it up. Right now I do yoga every day, and what I love about my instructor is that she makes it different every time. I also have my trainer, and with him it’s always different, it’s always fun. But I also like to go hiking, or my girlfriend and I go to the beach and ride our bikes.
ELLE: Do you have any other Fashion Week plans?
MK: Next week I’m going to Oscar de la Renta and Marchesa. I really enjoy just the creativity of these shows, and hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to wear them!
ELLE: They’re both quite feminine. How would you describe your personal style?
MK: Comfortable, easy, simple. Once in a while I’ll play with trends, but usually it’s pretty simple. Sometimes I’m just a T-shirt and jeans girl, sometimes I like to wear girly dresses, sometimes I’m a tomboy. But what is consistent is that I’m comfortable. Except with shoes—the rule of thumb with shoes is that pain is beauty. I’ve come to terms with that.
I care for such information a lot. I was looking for this certain information for a long time. Thank you and good luck.
February 11, 2012