Ginnifer Goodwin
Birthdate: May 22, 1978 (48 Years Old)
Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Ginnifer Goodwin (birthname: Jennifer Michelle Goodwin) is a distinctive actor best known for her role as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard in the long-running television show, Once Upon a Time (2011-2018), while landing her first feature role in Mona Lisa Smile (2003), starring Julia Roberts, with Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dominic West, Juliet Stevenson and Marcia Gay Harden under Mike Newell’s direction, and grossing $141.3 million for producers Columbia Pictures/Revolution Studios/Red Om Films Productions and distributor Sony Pictures Releasing.
Goodwin had a supporting role in the failed DreamWorks Pictures romcom, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004), with Kate Bosworth, Topher Grace, Josh Duhamel, Sean Hayes and Nathan Lane under Robert Luketic’s direction, and then Goodwin landed her first significant feature role with Oscar-nominated Joaquin Phoenix, Oscar-winning Reese Witherspoon and Robert Patrick in director/co-writer James Mangold’s Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line (2005), produced by Fox 2000 Pictures and released by 20th Century Fox, receiving a $187 million box office return.
Goodwin co-starred with Jonathan Tucker and Jeremy Renner in director/writer Kyle Bergersen’s prison drama, Love Comes to the Executioner (2006), and then Goodwin played support in director/writer Jonathan Kasden’s comedy-drama, In the Land of Women (2007), co-starring Adam Brody, Kristen Stewart, Meg Ryan, Olympia Dukakis, Makenzie Vega, Clark Gregg and JoBeth Williams, and returning $17.6 million for Warner Bros. Pictures. Goodwin had another supporting role in the near-future drama, Day Zero (2007), co-starring Elijah Wood, Chris Klein, and Jon Bernthal under Bryan Gunnar Cole’s direction, with Sofia Vassilieva, Elisabeth Moss, and Ally Sheedy, and released by First Look Pictures.
Ginnifer Goodwin co-starred with Matthew Perry, Ben Foster, Lauren Graham, Hilary Swank, and Zoë Kravitz in the Craig Lucas-directed and Elyse Friedman-written comedy-drama, Birds of America (2008), launching at the Sundance Film Festival and released by Myriad Pictures. Goodwin joined the ensemble of Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johansson, Kris Kristofferson and Justin Long in the Ken Kwapis-directed comedy-drama based on Greg Behrendt’s and Liz Tuccillo’s 2004 self-help book, He’s Just Not That Into You (2009), and which grossed $181 million for New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. Pictures.
Goodwin was cast by director/co-writer/producer Tom Ford in his feature version of Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel, A Single Man (2009), starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode and Nicholas Hoult, premiering at the Venice Film Festival where Firth won the Best Actor Volpi Cup and released by The Weinstein Company (U.S. and Germany)/IM Global (International). Goodwin then appeared in the family comedy-drama based on the Beverly Cleary novel series, Ramona and Beezus (2010), co-starring Joey King and Selena Gomez, with John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, Josh Duhamel and Sandra Oh under Elizabeth Allen’s direction, with lead producers Fox 2000 Pictures and Di Novi Pictures and released by 20th Century Fox to a $27.3 million return.
Ginnifer Goodwin joined the large cast of the Michael Dowse-directed comedy, Take Me Home Tonight (filmed in 2007, but not released until 2011), co-starring Topher Grace (who also co-wrote the story, with Gordon Kaywin), Anna Faris, Dan Fogler, Teresa Palmer, Chris Pratt, Michael Biehn, Lucy Punch, Demetri Martin, Angie Everhart, Michelle Trachtenberg and Bob Odenkirk, and which was bought by Rogue from Universal Pictures, and released by Relativity Media to a poor $7.4 million return. Goodwin co-starred with Kate Hudson, John Krasinski, Colin Egglesfield and Steve Howey in the Luke Greenfield-directed romcom, Something Borrowed (2011), adapted by Jennie Snyder Urman from Emily Giffin’s 2005 novel, produced by Alcon Entertainment/2S Films and released by Warner Bros. Pictures (North America and France)/Summit Entertainment (International) to a $60 million box office.
Goodwin shifted into voice roles for animated features at this point, most successfully as the co-starring voice of Judy in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ hit original comedy, Zootopia (2016), co-directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore (who both co-wrote the story with co-screenwriters Jared Bush and Phil Johnston), with the voice cast of Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk and Shakira, and which delivered a terrific $1.02 billion return after winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Goodwin’s one departure during this period for live-action comedy was star/director/co-writer Josh Duhamel’s sequel, Buddy Games: Spring Awakening (2023), with Dan Bakkedahl, Kevin Dillon, and Nick Swardson.
Ginnifer Goodwin returned to her role as Judy for Disney’s long-anticipated sequel, Zootopia 2 (2025), co-directed by Jared Bush (who also wrote the screenplay) and Byron Howard, and reuniting original castmates Jason Bateman and Idris Elba with new cast members Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Patrick Warburton, and Quinta Brunson.
Personal life
Ginnifer Goodwin was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, by her parents, Tim (musician, recording studio owner) and Linda (educational technology teacher). Goodwin has one sister, Melissa (stop-motion animator). Goodwin was raised in both the Protestant (First Unitarian Church) and Jewish (Reform) faiths, attending both Memphis’ First Unitarian Church and Temple Israel, and being both baptized and studying to have a bat mitzvah service. Goodwin attended St. Mary’s Episcopal School and graduated from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996 while also being active in the Reform Jewish Henry S. Jacobs Camp, the North American Federation of Temple Youth, and the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. Goodwin majored in theater at Hanover College for a year and then transferred to Boston University, where she earned her BFA with honors and an excellence in acting award from the Bette Davis Foundation. Goodwin then studied acting at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare Institute, located at Stratford-upon-Avon, England, followed by further theater studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she earned an Acting Shakespeare Certificate. Goodwin has been married to actor Josh Dallas since 2014; the couple has two sons, Oliver and Hugo. Goodwin’s height is 5’ 6”. Goodwin’s estimated net worth is $8 million.
Known For
Ginnifer Goodwin Movies
Actor
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Previous (8)
- 2016 |
- -- | as Judy Hopps
- -- | as Judy Hopps
- -- | Walk the Lineas Vivian Cash
- -- | as Judy Hopps
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- -- | as Judy Hopps
- -- | as Judy Hopps
Facts About Ginnifer Goodwin
What’s in a Name?: Ginnifer Goodwin changed the spelling of her birth name, Jennifer, to stress the pronunciation of her name in the Southern dialect in which she was raised.
Jewish by Choice: Goodwin was raised in both the Jewish and Protestant faiths, but subsequently stepped away from her Jewish beliefs, only to then re-embrace them, as she explained that she “up and left Judaism for a very long time…for ten years, there was nothing. No ritual. No tradition. No community…”) I was a Jew by birth, and now I’m a Jew by choice.”
