Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She starred as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011), Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018), Judy Hopps in Zootopia (2016) and Beth Ann Stanton in Why Women Kill (2019).
Goodwin appeared in films, including the drama Mona Lisa Smile (2003), the musical biopic Walk the Line (2005), the romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You (2009), the family comedy Ramona and Beezus (2010), the romantic comedy Something Borrowed (2011), and the biopic Killing Kennedy (2013). She also voiced the lead role of Fawn in the Disney animated fantasy film Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Neverbeast (2014) and Judy Hopps in the Disney animated comedy film Zootopia (2016).
Early life and education
Goodwin was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Her mother, Linda Kantor Goodwin, is a former teacher who also worked for FedEx. Her father, Tim Goodwin, formerly owned and operated a recording studio. Goodwin changed the spelling of 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.
Goodwin's mother is Jewish. Goodwin was raised attending First Unitarian Church and Temple Israel.
As a child, she attended the Henry S. Jacobs Camp, a summer camp for Reform Jewish children in Utica, Mississippi. 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 lived for a time in England and studied at Stratford on Avon's Shakespeare Institute, in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company. The following year, she earned an Acting Shakespeare Certificate from London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
