Ginnifer Goodwin

Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin is one of the main actors of Once Upon a Time, portraying the role of Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White.

Early life
Goodwin was born Jennifer Michelle Goodwin in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 22, 1978, to Tim Goodwin, who formerly owned and operated a recording studio, and his wife, Linda, a former educator. She 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 the Emmy award-winning Robot Chicken, on which Ginnifer herself has also appeared as voice talent.

Goodwin was affiliated with the North American Federation of Temple Youth and was active in BBYO at the Jewish Community Center in Memphis growing up; she had a bat mitzvah. After graduating from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996, Goodwin attended Hanover College (majoring in Theatre) for one year before moving on to Boston University's College of Fine Arts, where she received a "Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting" with honors in 2001.

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.

She also 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.

In 2008, MaxMara honored Goodwin with a "Face of the Future" award, an award recognizing up and coming women in film.

In 2011, Goodwin was cast to play the starring role of Mary Margaret Blanchard, a teacher in Storybrooke, Maine, who is actually Snow White, in the revisionist fantasy adventure television program Once Upon a Time, which debuted on ABC.

Personal life
Goodwin was a vegan and a spokesperson for Farm Sanctuary's "Adopt-A-Turkey Project" in 2009, having adopted a whole flock herself. She revealed on Jimmy Kimmel's show that she gave up being a vegan after experiencing undisclosed health issues.