Goodwin was born Jennifer Michelle Goodwin in Memphis, Tennessee, to Linda, who works for Federal Express, and Tim Goodwin, who formerly owned a recording studio.The two have since divorced. She has a younger sister, Melissa. Goodwin attended the URJ Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica, Mississippi, and was affiliated with the North American Federation of Temple Youth. She was active in BBYO at the Jewish Community Center in Memphis growing up.After graduating from Lausanne Collegiate School in 1996, Goodwin went on to Boston University's School for the Arts, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre in 2001.

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!, and Walk the Line, in which she played Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash's first wife. She also played Dori Dumchovic in the dark comedy Love Comes to the Executioner.As of 2007, Goodwin is in a supporting role in her second season as Margene, the third wife in a polygamous family, on the HBO original series Big Love.

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