Goodwin was born in Memphis, Tennessee.[2] Her mother, Linda (Kantor) Goodwin, is a former teacher who also worked for FedEx.[3] Her father, Tim Goodwin, formerly owned and operated a recording studio.[4] Goodwin changed the spelling of her name from "Jennifer" to "Ginnifer" to distinguish her name, and to assist in how her name is pronounced in her Southern regional dialect.[5] Her younger sister, Melissa Goodwin, is a stop-motion animator on shows such as Robot Chicken.
She attended Hanover College (majoring in theater) for one year before transferring and completing 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.[11]
In 2008, Max Mara honored Goodwin with a "Face of the Future" award, an award recognizing up-and-coming women in film.[12]
Goodwin played Gigi in He's Just Not That Into You (2009). For this role, she received a nomination for the People's Choice Award for Breakout Movie Actress.[13] In April 2009 she began filming Ramona and Beezus, playing "Aunt Bea".[14] The film was released on July 23, 2010.
From 2011 to 2017, Goodwin played a leading role in the ABC fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time. She played both the fairy tale heroine Snow White and her real-world counterpart, schoolteacher Mary Margaret Blanchard.[15] Goodwin and husband Josh Dallas left the show at the end of its sixth season to move back to Los Angeles with their family.[16] They both returned to the series for its finale at the end of the seventh season.[17]
In January 2017, Goodwin was cast as Marianne in the Los Angeles production of Constellations.[19] The play ran from June 14 to July 23, 2017, at the Geffen Playhouse.[20]
Goodwin dated actor Joey Kern and they became engaged in December 2010.[26] They ended the engagement in May 2011.[27] Goodwin subsequently began dating her Once Upon a Time co-star Josh Dallas in late 2011.[28] They got engaged in October 2013[29] and married on April 12, 2014, in California.[30] They have two sons, born in May 2014[31] and June 2016.[32]
In 2013, Goodwin said that after leaving Memphis, she "up and left Judaism for a very long time," and that "for 10 years, there was nothing. No ritual. No tradition. No community." She later reconnected with her faith, and has said, "I was a Jew by birth, and now I'm a Jew by choice."[7]