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Ginnifer Goodwin
Goodwin at the Spider-Man 3 premiere, 2007
Born	Jennifer Goodwin May 22, 1978 (1978-05-22) (age 31) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2001–present

Ginnifer Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American television and film actress, best known for her role as Margene Heffman on the HBO series Big Love and starring in the movies Mona Lisa Smile and He's Just Not That into You.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Filmography 4 References 5 External links

Personal life

Goodwin was born Jennifer Goodwin in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Linda, a former educator with a doctorate who is now with FedEx, and Tim Goodwin, who formerly owned and operated a recording studio.¹ She changed her name from "Jennifer" to "Ginnifer", because that is how she and her family pronounced it in their regional dialect.² Her younger sister—Melissa Goodwin—is a prominent stop motion animator on shows such as the Emmy Award winning Robot Chicken, on which Ginnifer 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.³ 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 2001.¹

She dated actor Chris Klein for two years; they broke up in December 2008.⁴

Goodwin is a vegan and has become a spokesperson for Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project in 2009, having adopted a whole flock herself.⁵

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.⁶ Goodwin is currently in a leading role as Margene Heffman—the third wife in a polygamous family—on the HBO original series Big Love.

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.⁷ In April 2009, she began filming Ramona and Beezus (playing Ramona's favorite person, Aunt Bea), co-starring with John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, and Selena Gomez.⁸

In 2008, MaxMara honored Goodwin with a "Face of the Future" award, an award recognizing up and coming women in film.⁹ Also, Goodwin was one of the celebrities featured in Gap's Fall 2008 ad campaign.¹⁰

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	Mona Lisa Smile	Connie Baker
2004	Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!	Cathy Feely
2005	Walk the Line	Vivian Liberto Cash
2006	Love Comes to the Executioner	Dori Dumchovic
2007	Day Zero	Molly Rifkin
	In the Land of Women	Janey
2008	Birds of America	Ida
2009	He's Just Not That into You	Gigi	Nomination: People's Choice Award for Breakout Movie Actress
	A Single Man	Mrs. Susan Strunk
2010	Ramona and Beezus	Aunt Bea	Post-Production
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Law & Order	Erica	Episode: "Myth of Fingerprints"
	Ed	Diane Snyder	2001–2004 (25 episodes)
2002	Porn 'n Chicken	Maya	Television film
2005	Robot Chicken	Various	2005–2007 (7 episodes)
2006	Big Love	Margene Heffman	2006–present (34 episodes)

References

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ginnifer Goodwin

• Ginnifer Goodwin at the Internet Movie Database
• Ginnifer Goodwin at Allmovie
• Ginnifer Goodwin at Yahoo! Movies