Jennifer Morrison Biography

Jennifer Marie Morrison (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress, model and film producer. She is known for her role as Emma Swan in the ABC adventure fantasy television series Once Upon a Time, and Dr. Allison Cameron in House. She also portrayed Zoey Pierson in season six of How I Met Your Mother.

Early life

Jennifer Morrison was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She is the eldest of three children with a sister, Julia, and a brother, Daniel. Her father, David L. Morrison, is a retired music teacher who was named teacher of the year by the Illinois State Board of Education in 2003. Morrison's mother, Judy Morrison, is also a retired teacher.

Morrison attended South Middle School then graduated from Prospect High School in 1997 where her parents worked. She played clarinet in the school's marching band, sang in the choir and was a cheerleader with the school's pep squad. She attended Loyola University Chicago where she majored in Theatre and minored in English, graduating in 2000. She studied with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television.

Career

Morrison started her career as a child model, appearing in print advertisements for JCPenney and Montgomery Ward and commercials for Rice Krispies and Mondo. In May 1992, she was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids with basketball star Michael Jordan.

She made her film debut at the age of fifteen as the daughter of Richard Gere and Sharon Stone in the 1994 film Intersection, and later appeared as Samantha in Stir of Echoes with Kevin Bacon in 1999. Her first leading role came in the 2000 film Urban Legends: Final Cut, and she has since gone on to appear in films including Grind with Adam Brody, Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2003, 2004 and 2005, respectively.

She has worked on several hit television shows, including Touched by an Angel and Dawson's Creek before landing the role of immunologist Dr. Allison Cameron on House in 2004 co-starring alongside Hugh Laurie. In 2006, she starred in and produced the independent film Flourish. Morrison is also one of the producers that found Glee during its early draft and brought it to attention of writer Ryan Murphy, who with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, adapted it into a television series. Morrison did not stay involved creatively, but is credited as an associated producer on the first season for her involvement in finding it and helping it get into the right hands.

In 2007, Morrison appeared as Kirce James in the computer game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, a character who frequently interacts with the player during the course of the GDI campaign.

Her film projects that year included Big Stan alongside Rob Schneider, and The Murder of Princess Diana, a television movie based on the book of the same name by Noel Botham. Produced by Lifetime and Working Title Television, Morrison portrays an American journalist, Rachel, who witnesses the car crash which took the life of Diana, Princess of Wales.

In 2009, Morrison returned to the big screen, appearing in the opening scene of J. J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot as James T. Kirk's mother, Winona.

Morrison has also appeared in music videos for Nick Lachey ("Shut Up"), and The Donnas ("Too Bad About Your Girl"). She also has appeared on two TV Guide covers with her House co-stars, and has been featured in photoshoots with In Style, Stuff, Entertainment Weekly and Premiere, among others. She is currently represented by Abrams Artists Agency. Morrison landed the cover of Health in the 2009 July/August issue.

After her contract on House was not renewed, it was announced on December 17, 2009, that Morrison had garnered the role of Kate Keller, Helen Keller's mother, in the Broadway-bound revival of The Miracle Worker. Morrison left House in season 6: episode 8 called "Teamwork". In 2010, however, she did make a return to House in season 6: episode 17 called "Lockdown", which was directed by Hugh Laurie. In the episode, she concluded her character's storyline.

In the fall of 2010, Morrison appeared as a guest-star in the fourth episode of NBC's Chase. She played the role of Faith, a single mother-turned-fugitive, who embarks on a bloody killing spree across Texas with her daughter in tow. She joined the cast of CBS's How I Met Your Mother as recurring character Zoey Pierson, a mischievous architecture nerd and love interest of main character Ted Mosby, and "the biggest female character we've maybe ever added to the show in Ted's life", according to executive producer Craig Thomas.

In 2011, Morrison co-starred alongside Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte in Warrior, a film about two estranged brothers who enter a mixed martial arts tournament and are forced to confront their struggling relationship with each other and with their father. Morrison plays the wife of Edgerton's character, struggling to keep her family together. Since October 2011, Morrison has had a starring role in ABC's Once Upon a Time. She plays the role of Emma Swan, a bail bonds collector, whose biological son claims that she is the missing daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. She holds the key to saving the real and fantasy worlds.

Morrison returned to House in the series finale called "Everybody Dies" that aired on May 21, 2012.

Personal life

Morrison started dating House co-star Jesse Spencer in July 2004. Spencer proposed to Morrison on December 23, 2006, at the Eiffel Tower and the two had planned to marry later in 2007. In August 2007 the couple called off their engagement.

Morrison has been dating her Once Upon a Time co-star Sebastian Stan since May 2012.

Filmography

Film and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Intersection	Meaghan Eastman
	Miracle on 34th Street	Denice
1999	Stir of Echoes	Samantha Kozac
2000	Urban Legends: Final Cut	Amy Mayfield
2001	'	Joyce
	'	Gwen	Episode: "Let Sleeping Dogs Fry"
	Touched by an Angel	Melissa Dunnigan	Episode: "Most Likely to Succeed"
2001"2002	Dawson's Creek	Melanie Shea Thompson	2 episodes
2002	Design	Sonya Mallow
	Any Day Now	Mandy Singer	Episode: "In Too Deep"
	'	Megan	Episode: "Pilot"
	Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie	Callie
	Nantucket	Alicia
	100 Women	Annie
2003	'
	Grind	Jamie
2004	Mall Cop	Chris
	'	Lily Bowser
	Surviving Christmas	Missy Vanglider
	Lift	Sarah	Short film
2004"2012	House	Dr. Allison Cameron	130 episodes, Lead role
2005	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Jade
2006	Flourish	Gabrielle Winters
2007	'	Rachel
	Big Stan	Mindy
2009	Star Trek	Winona Kirk
	Table for Three	Leslie Green
	'	Wasp	Voice only 3 episodes
2010	Chase	Faith Maples	Episode: "Paranoia"
2010"2011	How I Met Your Mother	Zoey Pierson	12 episodes
2011	Bringing Ashley Home	Ashley Phillips
	Five	Sheila
	Warrior	Tess Conlon
2011"present	Once Upon a Time	Emma Swan	Lead role
2012	Stars in Shorts	Agent Rachel Mintz
	Knife Fight	Angela
	Some Girl(s)	Sam
2013	Star Trek Into Darkness	Winona Kirk (voice only)
2013	Event 15	White

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars	Kirce James