Natalie Kelley was born in Lima, Peru to a Peruvian mother and Argentine father, making her half Peruvian half Argentine. She moved to Sydney, Australia at the age of 2. She dreamed about being an actress when she was 13 years old, and coincidentally attended the same school as Nicole Kidman, North Sydney Girls High School on Sydney's north shore. When she was 16 she became a salsa dancer which helped her get the money to finish education. Also "The Miss Latin America competition" earned for her a much-needed $1,000 and the next thing she took a year off and went to Brazil. The things Kelley saw there prompted her to shun show business and come home to launch herself into a social science degree.

She studied Politics and International Relations at the University of New South Wales, and also worked as a volunteer with indigenous Australian youth in the inner-city suburb of Redfern before moving to Los Angeles and becoming an actress.