Jennifer Michelle Goodwin, known professionally as Ginnifer Goodwin, is an American television
and film actress.
She is best known for her role as Margene Heffman on Big Love, and for her roles in
films like Mona Lisa Smile, Something Borrowed, Walk the Line, and He's Just Not That Into
You.
She stars as Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White in the ABC series Once Upon a Time.
Early life Goodwin was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
Her mother, Linda, is a former educator and "stay-at-home mom" who later worked for FedEx
and Apple.
Her father, Tim Goodwin, formerly owned and operated a recording studio.
Goodwin changed her name from "Jennifer" to "Ginnifer" to distinguish her name, and to
assist in pronunciation of her name in her regional dialect.
Her younger sister, Melissa Goodwin, is a stop motion animator on shows such as Robot
Chicken, on which Ginnifer has also appeared as voice talent.
Her mother is Jewish and her father is of Welsh descent.
Goodwin was raised attending synagogue on Saturdays and Unitarian church on Sundays.
She was both baptized and had a bat mitzvah service.
In her youth, Goodwin was affiliated with the North American Federation of Temple Youth,
and was active in BBYO at the Jewish Community Center in Memphis.
She went to school at St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis, Tennessee.
She then graduated from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996, then attended Hanover College
for one year before moving on to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston University.
While a student at BU, she performed in numerous student short films, as well as several college
and local stage productions.
Goodwin was given the "Excellence in Acting: Professional Promise Award" by the Bette Davis
Foundation, and graduated with honors.
After her time at Boston University, she studied in England at Stratford Upon-Avon’s Shakespeare
Institute, in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The following year she earned an "Acting Shakespeare Certificate" at London’s Royal Academy of
Dramatic Art.
Career Goodwin first had roles in the popular NBC
television programs Law & Order and Ed before appearing in the Comedy Central television
movie Porn 'n Chicken.
She later had substantial roles in the films Mona Lisa Smile, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!,
Walk the Line—in which she portrayed Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash's first wife—and Birds
of America.
She also played Dori Dumchovic in the dark comedy Love Comes to the Executioner.
Goodwin played a leading role as Margene Heffman, the third wife in a polygamous family, on
the HBO original series Big Love, which concluded on March 20, 2011.
Ginnifer has recurring voice roles in the Cartoon Network show, Robot Chicken, the animation
of which her younger sister Melissa Goodwin is involved.
In 2008, Max Mara honored Goodwin with a "Face of the Future" award, an award recognizing
up and coming women in film.
Also, Goodwin was one of the celebrities featured in Gap's Fall 2008 ad campaign.
Goodwin starred as Gigi in He's Just Not That into You, which was released in February 2009.
For this role, she received a nomination for the People's Choice Award for Breakout Movie
Actress.
In April 2009 she began filming Ramona and Beezus.
Since 2011 Goodwin has played a leading role in the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time.
She plays both the fairy tale heroine Snow White and her real world counterpart, schoolteacher
Mary Margaret Blanchard.
Personal life Goodwin dated actor Chris Klein for two years
before breaking up in 2008.
She later started dating actor Joey Kern and they became engaged in December 2010.
They ended the engagement in May 2011.
Goodwin subsequently began dating her Once Upon a Time co-star Josh Dallas in fall 2011.
Goodwin and Dallas became engaged in October 2013, and married on April 12, 2014 in California.
They have one child, a son, born in May 2014.
Goodwin is a close and longtime friend of her Once Upon a Time co-star Jennifer Morrison.
Goodwin was a vegan and was a spokesperson for Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project
in 2009, having adopted a whole flock herself.
She revealed on Jimmy Kimmel that she gave up being a vegan after experiencing undisclosed
health issues.
She said: "I'm always learning and growing and changing and there were some boring health
issues, and so I did actually have to work some animal products back into my diet."
Goodwin says although she's never had a "dramatic weight problem", she uses Weight Watchers
to keep her indulgences in check.
She considers herself an extremely healthy person, and balances her diet with ballet
classes and cardio workouts.
In 2013, Goodwin said that, after she left Memphis, she "...up and left Judaism for a
very long time," and that, "For 10 years, there was nothing.
No ritual.
No tradition.
No community."
She later reconnected with her faith, and has said, "I was a Jew by birth, and now I'm
a Jew by choice."
Filmography
Film Television
Awards and nominations References
External links Ginnifer Goodwin on Twitter
Ginnifer Goodwin on Instagram Ginnifer Goodwin on Facebook
Ginnifer Goodwin at the Internet Movie Database Ginnifer Goodwin at AllMovie