Early life

Goodwin was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Her mother, Linda (née Kantor), 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 (majoring in Theater) 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. Goodwin 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,Ginnifer 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 (playing "Aunt Bea").

Since 2011, Goodwin has played a leading role in the ABC fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time. She plays both the fairy tale heroine Snow White and her real world counterpart, schoolteacher Mary Margaret Blanchard.

Goodwin recently portrayed the role of Judy Hopps, the rabbit police officer and the main protagonist of Walt Disney Animation Studios's 2016 comedy film, Zootopia.

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, Oliver, born in May 2014. In November 2015, the couple's representative announced the two were expecting their second child.

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

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Zelda: An Extrospective Journey	Zelda	Short film
2003	Mona Lisa Smile	Constance "Connie" Baker
2004	Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!	Cathy Feely
2005	Walk the Line	Vivian Liberto
2006	Love Comes to the Executioner	Dori Dumchovic
2007	In the Land of Women	Janey
2007	Day Zero	Molly Rifkin
2008	Birds of America	Ida Tanager
2009	He's Just Not That Into You	Gigi Phillips
2009	A Single Man	Mrs. Strunk
2010	Ramona and Beezus	Aunt "Bea" Beatrice
2011	Take Me Home Tonight	Banky
2011	Something Borrowed	Rachel White
2014	Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast	Fawn (voice)
2016	Zootopia	Judy Hopps (voice)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Law & Order	Erica	Episode: "Myth of Fingerprints"
2001	Ed	Diane Snyder	25 episodes
2002	Porn 'n Chicken	Maya	Television film
2005	Robot Chicken	Various (voice)	7 episodes
2006	Big Love	Margene Heffman	53 episodes
2007	Big Love: In the Beginning	Margene Heffman	2 episodes
2009	Crappy Holidays Presents...		Episode: "Crappy Easter"
2011	SpongeBob SquarePants	Purple Haired Mermaid (voice)	Episode: "Welcome to the Bikini Bottom Triangle"
2011	Margene's Blog	Margene Henrickson	Episode: "Crush Story"
2011	Five	Charlotte	Television film
2011-present	Once Upon A Time	Mary Margaret / Snow White	110 episodes
2012	Electric City	Jean Marie St. Cloud	20 episodes
2013	Killing Kennedy	Jacqueline Kennedy	Television film
2014	Sofia the First	Gwen (voice)	Episode: "Gizmo Gwen"
2015	Who Do You Think You Are?	Herself	Documentary series Episode: "Ginnifer Goodwin"

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role
2015	Disney Infinity 3.0	Judy Hopps

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Production	Result
2010	People's Choice Award	Favorite Breakout Movie Actress		Nominated
2011	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Actress: Romantic Comedy	Something Borrowed	Nominated
2012	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	Once Upon a Time	Nominated
2013	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	Once Upon a Time	Nominated
	People's Choice Award	Favorite Dramatic TV Actress	Once Upon a Time	Nominated
2014	People's Choice Award	Favorite Dramatic TV Actress	Once Upon a Time	Nominated
	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	Once Upon a Time	Nominated
2016	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Actress	Once Upon a Time	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]