Ginnifer Goodwin Biography

Mini Bio (1)

Ginnifer Michelle Goodwin was born on 22nd May 1978, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Linda (Kantor), who worked at FedEx and Apple, and Tim Goodwin, who had a recording studio. Bright and talented, Ginnifer carried her love for theater and acting through her high school years. She graduated from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996 and spent a year at Hanover before going to Boston University where she received her BFA in Acting. She went on to receive accolades in London, including receiving a Certificate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and trained with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She lived briefly in New York before moving to California, where she lives. She made her television debut on the series Law & Order (1990) but had her first recurring television role on Ed (2000) in 2001. Her first movie role was Maya in the first Comedy Central original movie Porn 'n Chicken (2002). She then went on to shine as Connie Baker in the major motion picture hit Mona Lisa Smile (2003).

Ginnifer appeared in the movie Walk the Line (2005), where she played Johnny Cash's first wife. She also worked on the television drama Big Love (2006) with Bill Paxton and Jeanne Tripplehorn.

Ginnifer married actor Josh Dallas in 2014. Their first child, a son, was born that year. She is of Ashkenazi Jewish (mother) and Welsh (father) ancestry.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: An Old Friend

Spouse (1)

Josh Dallas

(12 April 2014 - present) (1 child)

Trade Mark (1)

Her pixie haircut

Trivia (23)

BFA in acting, with honors, from Boston University. A fellow student was Emily Deschanel.

Acting Shakespeare Certificate from Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, UK.

Also studied with London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon (in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company)

Won the Bette Davis Foundation Excellence in Acting / Professional Promise Award for theatre in 2001 (Boston, Massachusetts).

Long time friend Topher Grace recommended her for the role of Cathy Feely in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004).

Was in a relationship with Chris Klein, her boyfriend of two years. [December 2008]

Was girlfriend of Joey Kern [April 6, 2009].

As a child, she attended the Henry S. Jacobs Camp, a summer camp for Reform Jewish children in Utica, Mississippi.

'Younger sister, Melissa Goodwin Shepherd, is a stop-motion animator.

Was engaged to Joey Kern [December 24, 2010 - May 20, 2011].

Sister-in-law of Nathan Shepherd.

Her dream to be a Walt Disney princess came true with her role in Once Upon a Time(2011).

Is no longer a vegan, after telling in an interview that she had several health issues.

Good friends with Once Upon a Time (2011) costar Jennifer Morrison.

Attended and failed clown school.

Filming Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004). [July 2003]

Vancouver, BC, Canada: Filming Once Upon A Time [November 2012]

Her father has English, some Welsh, and more distant German, ancestry. Her mother is of Lithuanian Jewish, Russian Jewish, and German Jewish descent. Ginnifer had a Bat Mitzvah ceremony.

(April 12, 2014) Married her boyfriend of 2 years Josh Dallas following a 6-month-long engagement. They share their wedding day with their Once Upon a Time (2011) co-star and friend Jennifer Morrison's birthday. Morrison played their daughter in the show.

Gave birth to her 1st child at age 36, a son Oliver Finlay Dallas on May 29, 2014. Child's father is her husband, Josh Dallas.

Was 8 months pregnant with her son Oliver when she completed filming the 3rd season of Once Upon a Time (2011).

Returned to work 6 weeks after giving birth to her son Oliver to begin filming the 4th season of Once Upon a Time (2011).

Is just 1 year older than Jennifer Morrison and 22 years older than Jared Gilmore, who play her daughter and grandson on Once Upon a Time (2011).

Personal Quotes (62)

[on re-embracing her faith as an adult] I was Jewish by birth... I was Super Jew, and then I up and left Judaism for a very long time. I flew from Memphis... and I flew from my faith. I walked out of Judaism. I had broken my covenant. The only thing Jewish about me was that I felt guilty... For 10 years, there was nothing. No ritual. No tradition. No community. I was this new alone thing, a nomad in the world. I was homeless... I lost this, and I've been trying to find it again... I am a Jew... It took me 10 years to come back around to that self-definition. I was a Jew by birth, and now I'm a Jew by choice.

But I love being scared. I think you're brave only when you do things that scare you. I've always used fear as a motivator. I'm not sure why.

I cherish all of the times I've fallen on my face and made mistakes, because those experiences have made me who I am.

I love Valentine's Day! I love it, I love it, I love it. I like having doors opened for me. My favorite romantic comedy is 'When Harry Met Sally.'

I know now that there are men out there who are, for me, the whole package, who are supportive of my successes because they know I will be just as supportive of theirs. I'm less tolerant of foolishness now; I know that it's important I not tie myself up with the wrong person, because then I will miss the right person coming along.

It took me realizing that a broken heart has never actually killed anyone to find the courage to ask for what I want, in just about every situation. That was part of my own growing up.

I really am super lazy and doing long hair, especially mine, is a big pain in the butt. It's filled with cowlicks and kinks and curls and frizz - and it was taking too much time in the morning.

You know, one of my biggest dreams in life is to play a Disney princess.

Growing up in Memphis, I have always admired St. Jude's for the magnificent work they do.

Everything goes with short hair. It's bananas.

I'm insanely girly. I like having the door opened for me. I want to cook dinner for my boyfriend. And I can't wait to have babies.

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I always go all-out with my costumes.

But often times, I feel like I'm so blessed, it's not fair. That what I'm doing is not contributing to the good of the world.

As long as I can wear a wig I can be any character, and in real life I can be myself.

I'm for all the actor's struggle, the self-indulgent, painful journey, but I would rather have fun.

I'm a better person in a relationship, and I'm a happier person. I need to come home at the end of the day and have it not be about me and my freaking hair and makeup and character motivations anymore. And I think my work is more inspired when home is safe and sound and solid, because what I do for a living is so bananas and so insecure.

Oh, my, yes. I was raised in this Southern culture where if a guy was sarcastic, that just meant he didn't know how to show his love - but secretly he cared! I completely bought that. The men I chased and the things I put up with - it was criminal.

I understand why society, especially American society, is gravitating toward fairy tales, given our economy. We've been exploring the world of witches and wizards for years. We've been exploring the world of vampires for years. Clearly the public - I mean, I feel like all of this was ushered in by 'Harry Potter' - in my own fannish beliefs.

Costume designers don't care about trends. They appreciate, above so many other qualities, that tailoring is everything, which is a mantra for the way I dress. Ladies: The most important thing in clothing is to find a good, inexpensive tailor, because clothes at the stores are made for bodies that are anomalies.

I think of clothes a lot like costumes. I think of what I wear in real life as being my real life character's costume.

I perpetuate rumors that I've dated people that I've never actually dated.

I hardly ever work out.

I express myself through clothes, but clothes don't define me.

I don't know why anyone would want to ask an actor for dating advice. We are not the poster children for healthy relationships.

Couldn't start the morning without caffeine.

At 9 years old I weighed about 10 lbs. less than what my weight is at 32. I needed to get help.

I'm not nomadic by nature.

I'm a Southern lady that almost never leaves the house without makeup on.

I want to work endlessly and tirelessly until I'm an old, old lady.

I think most people know inherently that good wins.

I only wear heels when a stylist puts me in them.

One night I'd had some beers, and then I Googled myself and spent the night in tears.

Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm really obsessive about anything dealing with my health.

Nudity is for my boyfriend or my doctor.

In real life, people don't try to live dramatically, people try to live in a light way. People try to laugh.

I've never had body issues, I've never had an eating disorder. I've never had to go on a diet and that's because of Weight Watchers.

I can safely say that other than macaroni and cheese, there's no processed food in my life. There's no inorganic food in my life these days. There's no junk food. There's not a lot of sugar. There's no soy. I mean, really everything that's going into my body is pretty pure.

Unfortunately, as obsessed as I am with all of those Grimm's slash Disney princesses, I do think women have evolved socially in so many ways.

They say men and women can't be friends, but that's not true.

Romcoms are challenging, but I'm hungry for drama.

People always say a script will be 'brought to life in a magical way,' but for me that has been proven wrong time and time again.

I see girls who haven't had a carbohydrate in three years. The second you go back to eating right, you're going to put that weight on. You eat one piece of bread and you are screwed, lady!

I made some friends at Listerine and they taught me a little bit about oral care. That half of adults suffer from oral disease, that the number one chronic disease among children is oral disease, that we're only taking care of 25% of our mouths when brushing alone and there are more germs in your mouth than there are people on the planet.

With the counseling of my family doctor, my mother ended up turning to Weight Watchers and their children's program. I went to weekly meetings, got counseling and would exercise with my peers who were my size. It was the first time I saw a proper children's portion size, and it wasn't two burgers, it was one.

Why do only boys get to chase? Nuh-uh! If anything, I think this whole sitting back and waiting thing can be self-sabotaging. We have to send up flares. We have to let guys know we're open for business.

I'm so an all-or-nothing person in dating, always. I'm big on not wasting time. And so, yeah, if something's not working, it's time to not hold people back.

After spending time with the rescued turkeys at Farm Sanctuary's shelter and seeing how similar they are to my furry companion animals at home, I knew I needed to do everything in my power to protect these friendly and curious birds from the daily pain and suffering they endure on factory farms.

A lot of times, I think that what I do for a living has no integrity. 'Once Upon A Time' has changed that to a certain extent because the reaction we get from children out in the world is so fulfilling, I cannot even articulate it. There's nothing like being greeted as Snow White by a hyperventilating child versus Ginnifer Goodwin.

The costumes are insane on 'Once Upon a Time.' It did influence my taking the job, the fact that not only would I be horseback riding and sword fighting and traipsing through the woods but I would be doing all those things in insane, medieval garb.

Sometimes I make very selfish choices; like I did 'Once Upon A Time' for my inner 8-year-old and my hypothetical future child. I've done some movies because I would regret them if I didn't, but other projects I've done because they've scared me or if I felt I needed to do a big romantic comedy to help me professionally.

I started reading and learned that we don't need any of it - meat, dairy products. We get everything we need without those things - except maybe B12, but there's this whole controversy that maybe we're only getting B12 because the animals are being fed B12 supplements.

I would point out that I'm an actress for a reason! If I were popular in high school, I would have considered another career because I wouldn't have been alone in my room, making up other characters for myself. I definitely had growing pains. The popular kids didn't want anything to do with the girl who was starting the drama club.

I will end up with someone in the arts. I am positive. I eat, breathe and sleep acting. And I'll end up with someone who is happy staying at home and having me cook supper. But I also really need to be intellectually challenged and stimulated. I want someone bookish, and someone who is passionate.

I have very curly hair and I straighten it every day - it takes maybe two minutes. I can't imagine anyone having a bigger challenge than I do in the kinkiness that is my crazy 'fro.'

I come from theater, and doing period stuff is so whimsical and imaginative and so outside any frame of reference than I have ever had so I prefer that just in terms of fun factor.

I am much more open to plural marriage than I was before, and I now support it in certain situations. I do believe it is right for some people. But our example in America today is gross abuse - I can't support it in fundamentalist compounds.

There's nothing I want less than a piece of cheese or a burger. I have nightmares I'm being force-fed these things. I have no interest in converting anyone. It's purely how I want to live my life. I don't judge anyone.

Oh my gosh, I'd give so much advice to a younger version of myself. I would say it really does get better as you get older. The things that mean so much, the things that seem like, you know, it's going to cause the end of the world, are all things that I've already forgotten.

My day-to-day wardrobe, I do mix it up. I'll wear something from Target along with something by YSL. It's about finding the right items that make you happy.

It's like, if you can't focus on a movie for 90 minutes without looking at your phone, then don't go to the movies! You've got some issues, so you should probably stay home and work on those issues, and not distract everyone with lights, and sounds, oh my gosh, the tapping on the screens, it makes me crazy!

I've always been sort of addicted to genre-jumping. I've never been in the mood to do the same thing I did last time. Hence, me going from 'Big Love' to romantic comedy, to period film... I can't sit still.

When I'm doing a film, I love getting together after work with my costars. But we get back to L.A. and I'm like, 'I don't want to go to a club with you, dude. I mean, I think you're rad, and if you want to come play Scrabble with me, that's amazing.'