Joaquin Phoenix wears every character in his movies like a second skin.
He has already given jaw-dropping performances in movies like ‘Gladiator,’ ‘To Die
For,’ ‘Walk The Line’ and ‘The Master.’
Born in the family of performers, Joaquin has dedicated a major part of his life to
the art which has resulted in three Academy Award nominations and a Golden Globe win.
However, the most daunting challenge of his career is still ahead of him.
He is set to appear as Batman’s biggest arch-nemesis, the Joker, in a standalone origin
movie chronicling the backstory of the supervillain.
With Jared Leto’s commendable job in ‘Suicide Squad’ and Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning
performance in ‘The Dark Knight,’ Joaquin has pretty big shoes to fill.
More than three decades of acting has made Joaquin a household name and a screen legend,
but there are still some of the facts you probably didn't know about him.
Today, eCelebrityFacts brings you ten unknown facts about the actor.
But, before you step into the arena and challenge Commodus, Spartaaaa!
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#10: Missionaries Parents After getting married in the late 60s, Joaquin’s
parents, John Lee and Arlyn Phoenix, joined a controversial religious group, the Children
of God.
They started traveling throughout Central and South America and even brought their children,
Joaquin, River, Rain, Liberty, and Summer, with them.
They became disillusioned with the group and moved back to the US in 1978.
#9: Symbolic Last Name Joaquin’s original family name was Bottom,
but after they left the controversial group, the family changed their last name to Phoenix,
the mythical bird that rises from its own ashes.
The name symbolized a new beginning for the family.
#8: Close to Nature Don’t you hate it when people can’t pronounce
your name?
I don’t.
My name is Steve.
But, Joaquin did.
As all his siblings’ names were related to nature, he gave himself the name, Leaf.
He went by his new name for several years as a child actor.
However, after filming Walking the Dog in 1991, he changed his name back to Joaquin.
#7: A Call to 911 His older brother, River, suffered a fatal
drug overdose at Johnny Depp’s LA nightclub, The Viper Room, in the early mornings of October 31, 1993.
Along with River were Joaquin and his sister, Rainn.
River was pronounced dead after a while.
Joaquin’s 911 call was later broadcast on radio and television repeatedly.
In the aftermath of the incident, he left from the public’s prying eye for about a year.
#6: J.R. Phoenix?
The 2005 movie, Walk The Line, is one of Joaquin’s finest performances to date.
You can see the uncanny resemblance between him and Johnny Cash, the singer he is portraying
in the movie.
That’s because he went totally method for the role.
He told his friends and cast of the movie to call him J.R. as Cash’s birth name is
John R. Cash.
He later admitted, “It’s simply that I don’t know what I’m doing, and I use all
the help I can get.
It’s an act of desperation.”
He won a Golden Globe and a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor.
#5: Grammy Winner In addition to his amazing acting, he also
sang in ‘Walk The Line.’
It was his first professional work as a singer and boy, did he do a spectacular job.
Movie goers were stunned to find out that Johnny Cash wasn’t the voice behind the
songs in the movie.
Phoenix won the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for his vocal
performance in the movie.
Joaquin Phoenix, a talented man, through and through.
#4: He’s Still Here Remember the time in 2008 when Joaquin quit
acting and started a hiphop career?
Turns out it was all for a mockumentary about his life called “I’m Still Here”.
It’s safe to say that he wasted four years of his life during that stupid stunt with
his brother-in-law, Casey Affleck.
While it was a foolish idea, he still went method for it.
The mockumentary made next to no money and the shenanigans he pulled off during the time
were utterly ridiculous.
He appeared with dreadlocked hair and a messy beard on the Late Show with David Letterman
and was showing no response at all.
Now if we look at the clip with a different perspective, we can see him almost crack up
in a few instances.
#3: No Memorabilia for Fans You will rarely find a picture of Phoenix
with his fans because he doesn’t humor people with a snapshot or two.
If you see Joaquin strolling in your neighborhood, do not try to take a picture with him.
He will probably have a casual chat with you but that’s it.
He once told Playboy, “ "A woman came up the other day in a store
and said, “I’m really sorry, but can we take a picture?”
I said, “You know what?
I don’t do that, but thanks so much for coming up.”
We chatted a bit.
It was fun.”
#2: Vegan For Life Joaquin will do anything to make sure that
he gets into a character.
But, will he wear leather for a role?
He has been living as a Vegan from the tender age of 3 after he witnessed a fishing incident.
As a lot of publications claim that Joaquin will not wear leather for movie costumes.
That is more or less correct.
He wore leather vintage boots for ‘Walk the Line.’
He explained,"I don’t wear leather in my life, but with movies, there are some things
I struggle with, like if there are budget constraints or a particular vintage thing
they need," #1: Oscars, What?
Phoenix has three Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe win and a Grammy.
He has additional 30 different Awards and over 100 nominations.
But does he care?
Absolutely not.
Accolades are not that important to him.
He said, “I think it's total, utter bullshit, and I don't want to be a part of it.
I don't believe in it.
It's a carrot, but it's the worst-tasting carrot I've ever tasted in my whole life.
I don't want this carrot.
It's totally subjective.
Pitting people against each other...
It's the stupidest thing in the whole world.
It was one of the most uncomfortable periods of my life when ‘Walk the Line’ was going
through all the awards stuff and all that.
I never want to have that experience again.”
Are you excited for Joaquin’s new avatar as Joker?
Will he able to meet expectations set Heath Ledger’s exceptional performance?
Let us know.
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