Jennifer Morrison

Jennifer Marie Morrison is an American actress and director. She is mainly known for her roles as Allison Cameron in the medical-drama series House (2004–2012) and Emma Swan in the ABC adventure-fantasy series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018). She has also portrayed Zoey Pierson, one of Ted Mosby's love interests, on the comedy series How I Met Your Mother, Winona Kirk, mother of James T. Kirk in the 2009 science-fiction film Star Trek, and Tess Conlon in the 2011 sports drama film Warrior. She made her feature-film directorial debut with Sun Dogs (2017).

Morrison was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She is the oldest of three children. Her father, David, is a retired music teacher and high-school band director who was named Teacher of the Year by the Illinois State Board of Education in 2003.

Morrison attended South Middle School, and then graduated from Prospect High School (where her parents worked) in 1997. She was an All-State clarinet player in the school's marching band, sang in the choir, and was a cheerleader in the school pep squad. She attended Loyola University Chicago, where she majored in theatre and minored in English, graduating in 2000. She studied at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.

In 2004, Morrison began dating Australian actor Jesse Spencer, who played her character's love interest in House. He proposed to her at the Eiffel Tower on December 23, 2006, but they called off their engagement in August 2007. She dated Puerto Rican actor Amaury Nolasco from 2009 to 2012, and Romanian-American actor Sebastian Stan from 2012 to 2013. She has been in a relationship with Salvadoran-American actor Gerardo Celasco since 2019.