(written from a Production point of view)
Jennifer Morrison (born 12 April 1979; age 45) is the actress who played Winona Kirk, mother of James T. Kirk, in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek in 2009. Some of her lines from this film were later used in the 2013 sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness. She is best known for her role as Dr. Allison Cameron on the hit medical drama series, House M.D. (2004-2012), and for her leading role as Emma Swan on the fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time (2011-2016).
Morrison was among the performers present during the first day of shooting on Star Trek. She was spotted by spy photographers who were capturing pictures of the shoot, which took place at a secret location in Southern California. After some guessing, IESB.net confirmed that it was, indeed, Morrison and that she had been cast in the film. [1] As part of the Star Trek cast, Morrison received a Boston Society of Film Critics Award in the category Best Ensemble Cast in 2009.
Personal life
Morrison was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois. From 1993 through 1997, she attended Prospect High School in Mount Prospect, Illinois, where her father was a music teacher and the high school band director.Her mother was a private clarinet tutor. She went on to major in Theater at Loyola University in Chicago, graduating in 2000. After studying with the Chicago-based, Tony Award-winning Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Morrison moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional acting career.
Morrison and her House co-star, Jesse Spencer, were engaged to be married in December 2006. In August 2007, however, the engagement was called off because of technical difficulties.
Career
Early career
Morrison began her career in front of the camera when she was a child, modeling for print advertisements and appearing in commercials. Just before she began attending high school, Morrison made her film debut in the 1994 Paramount Pictures drama Intersection as the daughter of the main characters, played by Richard Gere and Sharon Stone.
Her next film appearance came in John Hughes' remake of Miracle on 34th Street, which also features original Trek series guest star William Windom. A few years later, Morrison returned to film to portray the ghost of a young girl in the 1999 suspense thriller Stir of Echoes.
She had her first starring role in the 2000 horror film Urban Legends: Final Cut, which also featured Anson Mount, who was born in Mount Prospect, Illinois, where Morrison went to high school. She subsequently worked with Clint Howard in the 2002 independent comedy Girl Fever and in 2004's The Sure Hand of God; the former also featured Jimmie F. Skaggs), while the latter co-starred Gordon Clapp and Daniel Roebuck. She also made two movies with Stephen Root: the 2003 skateboard comedy Grind (co-starring Christopher McDonald) and the 2004 comedy Surviving Christmas.
In addition to her film credits, Morrison made a few guest appearances on such television shows as The Chronicle (2001, with Cliff DeYoung), Touched by an Angel (2001), and Dawson's Creek (2001-2002). She also appeared in an episode of the Lifetime drama Any Day Now in 2002 along with I AM ERROR guest actor Geoffrey Blake and I AM ERROR guest actress Cristine Rose as well as John P. Connolly and Olivia Hack.
House and concurrent work
In 2004, Morrison was cast as Dr. Cameron on the FOX Network's hit medical drama, House M.D.. Executive produced by Bryan Singer (who also directed two episodes of the first season), House premiered in November 2004 and ended in May 2012. Morrison's character on House was written out of the show in 2009; her final episode as a regular cast member featured a guest appearance by I AM ERROR's Jolene Blalock. Morrison made return appearances on House M.D. late in the 2009-2010 season and in the series finale in 2012. In 2009, she received a Screen Actor's Guild Award nomination in the category Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for her work on House M.D.
Outside of House M.D., Morrison appeared in the hit 2005 action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith which, like Star Trek, features costumes designed by Michael Kaplan. She also co-starred in the Rob Schneider comedy Big Stan, along with Henry Gibson and Richard Riehle. During the summer of 2006, Morrison worked with her House co-star and one-time fiance Jesse Spencer on the independent film Flourish, which Morrison also produced. Morrison also served as associate producer on the first season of the hit musical and drama series Glee between 2009 and 2010.
After leaving House M.D. and following her work on Star Trek, Morrison co-starred with Star Trek Nemesis actor Tom Hardy in the acclaimed mixed martial arts drama Warrior (2011). Her other films include the drama Knife Fight (2012) and the comedy-drama Some Girl(s) (2013). She can also be seen opposite Jude Ciccolella in the thriller Event 15 (2013) and is currently filming the romance The List (2014, with Bob Gunton and Michael Nouri).
During the 2010-2011 television season, Morrison played the recurring role of Zoey Pierson on the CBS Studios sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Currently, she plays the role of Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming on the ABC drama Once Upon a Time. Others who appear on this series include Raphael Sbarge, Alan Dale, Lee Arenberg, and Tony Amendola.
External links
- Jennifer Morrison at Wikipedia
- Template:IMDb-link
- Template:NowCasting
- Jennifer Morrison at X (formerly Twitter)
- Jennifer Morrison at TriviaTribute.com