Ginnifer Goodwin was first seen in Episode: "Myth of Fingerprints" of the American police procedural and legal drama television series ‘Law & Order’ in 2001. That same year, she also joined the cast of the American comedy-drama television series ‘Ed’ created by Jon Beckerman and Rob Burnett. She played the role of ‘Diane Snyder’ and remained a part of the show until 2003. Goodwin made her big-screen debut in the 2003 American drama film ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ directed by Mike Newell. The film received a lukewarm response from critics but still managed to gross over $141.3 million on a $72.3 million budget. She was next seen in films like ‘Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!’ (2004), ‘Walk the Line’ (2005), and ‘Love Comes to the Executioner’ (2006). In 2006, she grabbed the role of ‘Margene Heffman’ in the American drama television series ‘Big Love’ created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer. The series ran for 5 seasons and aired its final episode in 2011. She continued to star in television series and shows like ‘Big Love: In the Beginning’ (2007), ‘Crappy Holidays Presents…’ (2009), ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ (2011), and ‘Margene's Blog’ (2011). In 2011, she joined the main cast of the American fantasy adventure drama television series ‘Once Upon a Time’ created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. She portrayed ‘Mary Margaret Blanchard / Snow White’ in the series which earned her 5 ‘People's Choice Award’ and 3 ‘Teen Choice Award’ nominations. ‘Once Upon a Time’ aired 155 episodes in a span of 7 seasons before going off-air in 2018.
In 2014, she voiced ‘Fawn’ in the Steve Loter-directed American computer-animated fantasy film ‘Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast.’ The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and scored a 75% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She next voiced ‘Judy Hopps’ in the 2016 American computer-animated buddy cop action-comedy film ‘Zootopia’ directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore. The film opened to a positive critical reception and was a phenomenal commercial success, grossing over $1.024 billion on a budget of $150 million. She next appeared in television series like ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ (2015), ‘The Twilight Zone’ (2019), ‘Why Women Kill’ (2019), and ‘Earth to Ned’ (2021). She was last seen playing the role of ‘Jodie’ in the 2022 American comedy television series ‘Pivoting.’