From embodying country music icon Johnny Cash in Walk the Line down to his distinctive singing
voice, to the vicious sadism of the Emperor in Gladiator, Joaquin Phoenix has proven that
his range is virtually unmatched but his rise to fame was neither assured or straightforward.
Born Joaquin Rafael Bottom on October 28, 1974 in Puerto Rico, Phoenix had nomadic early
years as his parents were members of the Children of God Christian missionary group, now classified
as a cult.
Because of their involvement in that organization, the Bottoms traveled all over south and central
America, until the cult's increasingly sinister practices including alleged sexual abuse and
incest began to disenchant Joaquin's parents.
After escaping Children of God, and returning to the US with their five kids in tow, the
Bottoms eventually settled in Los Angeles.
They changed their last name from Bottom to Phoenix, and Joaquin also decided to go by
the first name Leaf so he could match better with his brother River, and their sisters
Summer, Rain, and Liberty.
The Phoenix kids played music on the streets for rent money until their mom, Arlyn (aka
Heart), got a job as a secretary to an NBC casting agent.
Through her networking, a well-known casting agent was won over by the family's talent
and shepherded them into the bright lights of Hollywood.
Joaquin Phoenix went by his chosen name Leaf for the first few years of his acting career,
but it was actually his brother who snagged the first screen role in the television show
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
River quickly brought his family along - Joaquin had his first TV role on that show too, immediately
followed by a string of small roles on TV.
As River's star began to rise in movies with his breakout in Stand By Me, Joaquin also
landed juicy lead roles in SpaceCamp in 1986 and Russkies in 1987.
"Stay put for the next hour or so and nobody gets hurt."
Joaquin's first truly big break wouldn't come until 1989 with the Steve Martin family dramedy
Parenthood as troubled youngster Garry, a boy struggling with his father's abandonment
of his family.
The film was a hit, and Phoenix was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Leading
Young Actor for this nuanced and heartbreaking performance.
"He didn't think it was such a good idea.
I gotta go."
But just as Joaquin was set to follow in his brother's successful footsteps, another tragedy
hit his family that prevented him from acting for almost two years.
On Halloween night in 1993, Joaquin Phoenix was at Hollywood nightclub the Viper Room
when his brother River overdosed on a cocktail of drugs.
Joaquin was the one who called 911 while their sister Rain tried to resuscitate River using
CPR.
River died later at the hospital, a trauma that impacted Joaquin and the Phoenix family
immeasurably.
Joaquin was only 19; his brother had recently turned 23.
Joaquin Phoenix was so devastated by his brother's sudden death that he didn't act for almost
two years.
By this time, Joaquin's parents had split up and his father John had moved back to South
America.
While Joaquin's mom and sisters retreated to their family property in Florida and the
safety of their connection in privacy to mourn and heal, Joaquin went to live and travel
with his father instead.
Joaquin Phoenix was hit extremely hard losing his brother River, but when he came back to
acting, he did so with a vengeance.
He decided to return to his given name Joaquin instead of Leaf, seen for the first time in
the credits of Gus Van Sant's critically acclaimed film To Die For which kickstarted a fierce
new chapter of Phoenix's career in 1995.
"Now, I take it very serious."
After the success of To Die For, Phoenix went on to work with Oliver Stone on U-Turn, then
went on to the romantic drama Inventing the Abbotts and the thrillers Clay Pigeons and
8MM.
But it wasn't until Ridley Scott's Gladiator that Phoenix's talents brought him his first
Oscar nomination for his layered performance as Emperor Commodus.
By the time he worked with M. Night Shyamalan on Signs and The Village, Phoenix had become
a full-fledged movie star.
While Joaquin Phoenix's earlier roles were each marked with singular iterations of Phoenix's
profound emotional depth, he took things to a new level with his method acting in Walk
the Line in 2005, embodying Johnny Cash down to his singing voice and earning a Grammy
as well as a Golden Globe for his tremendous work.
Diving deep emotionally and physically to embody Johnny Cash and the addictions that
shaped his life and career would also come with a dark side for Joaquin Phoenix: After
filming for Walk the Line wrapped, he checked himself into rehab for a brief stint.
Phoenix had never been more than a social drinker before Walk the Line, and had increased
his alcohol consumption significantly to better understand Cash.
As he told London Magazine,
"I was really leaning on alcohol to feel okay.
That's really what it was."
During this difficult time, Phoenix also had a terrifying brush with death when his brakes
failed and his car crashed.
Amazingly, he was rescued by documentary filmmaker Verner Herzog, and nobody was badly injured.
From 2009 to 2010 the public at large was worried about Joaquin Phoenix, wondering if
he was on drugs or worse when he announced his retirement from acting to become a rapper.
This period was marked with Phoenix behaving erratically in interviews and talk shows like
his now-infamous David Letterman appearance all of which would turn out to be an elaborate
piece of performance art directed by Phoenix's then-brother-in-law Casey Affleck that was
eventually turned into the mockumentary I'm Still Here.
"These guys have seen the worst of me, they've seen the best, they've seen the honest me."
After this odd detour, Phoenix went on to stun audiences and critics with his role as
Freddie Quell in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, which earned him his third Oscar nomination.
He also starred in Spike Jonze's strangely poignant tech-oriented dramedy Her, as a lonely
man who falls in love with his computer operating system, to name just one standout role he's
had in his post-performance art years.
Riding a wave of critical acclaim for his performance in the comics-inspired 2019 drama
Joker, Joaquin Phoenix received the Toronto International Film Festival Tribute Actor
Award alongside Meryl Streep.
The award recognizes decades of cinematic excellence, and during his acceptance speech
Joaquin made rare and emotional comments about his late brother River, saying,
"When I was 15 or 16, my brother River came home from work and he had a VHS copy of a
movie called Raging Bull, and he sat me down and made me watch it.
And the next day he woke me up, and he made me watch it again.
And he said, 'You're going to start acting again, this is what you're going to do.
[...] He didn't ask me, he told me.
And I am indebted to him for that because acting has given me such an incredible life."
Phoenix also credited his father John for gifting him with an exceptional work ethic
that helped him get to this point, but also quipped that it might not have fully been
on display on the Joker set.
“Haha.”
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