In Her New Memoir, Minka Kelly Shares Insights into Her Traumatizing Childhood.

In spite of being just seven years old, Minka Kelly was aware that her life was 'different,' growing up with her single mom, Maureen, who worked as a stripper in Los Angeles. When the family struggled with poverty, they even resorted to staying in a storage shed of an apartment complex after failing to pay rent for their unit. Kelly, now 42, admits to wishing her mom was like other mothers as a child.

However, in her new memoir, Tell Me Everything, Kelly opens up about her traumatic childhood, witnessing her mother trying to make ends meet as she struggled with addiction and domestic violence. Her mother, Maureen, who died of cancer in 2008, often took Kelly with her to strip clubs where she performed. Despite the instability and unpredictability, it made Kelly adaptable.

In the book, Kelly also reveals that she worked in peep shows at an adult-video store in Albuquerque when she was only 17. Determined to support herself after being shuffled around by family and acquaintances, Kelly felt brave enough to confront her shame and reveal this part of her life in her memoir.

After escaping a toxic relationship with her first boyfriend, which included an abortion and coerced sex tape, Kelly made a fresh start in Los Angeles and reconnected with her father, who was a former guitarist of Aerosmith. Starting as a scrub nurse, she eventually found her calling in acting, landing her breakthrough role in Friday Night Lights.

Kelly also addresses her romantic involvement with Taylor Kitsch, her costar in Friday Night Lights, despite being warned against on-set romances by director Peter Berg. Although Kelly and Kitsch aren't in touch anymore, Kelly says the relationship taught her an important lesson.

Though her mother and she had an estranged relationship, Kelly eventually confronted Maureen about her upbringing and forgave her before she passed away in a hospice facility in Albuquerque. The experience inspired Kelly to write her memoir, hoping that it would support those with complicated maternal relationships and bring liberation to others who carry shame.

Tell Me Everything is set to premiere on May 2.