Joaquin Phoenix biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Actor. Born on October 28, 1974, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As the son of the missionaries for the Children of God religious group, Joaquin and his family moved frequently. His parents, John and Arlyn Bottom, completed stints in Central and South America before becoming disillusioned with the cult. After they left the group, the family took the new surname Phoenix, which was symbolic of their new life.

Moving to Los Angeles around the age of four, Joaquin and his siblings—older brother River, older sister Rain, and younger sisters Liberty and Summer—soon tried to make their way in Hollywood. The Phoenix children already liked to put on shows for each other before their mother found an agent to represent them. "We all used to sing and play music, and we were all very outgoing. My parents always encouraged us to express ourselves. And so it seemed like second nature to start acting," Phoenix explained to Interview magazine.

Early Roles

The first breakout star was River, who landed a role on the short-lived television series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which aired from 1982 to 1983. Through his brother, Joaquin made a guest appearance on the show when he was 8 years old, which led to other small television parts on such shows as The Fall Guy, Hill Street Blues, and Murder, She Wrote. He even appeared with River in an ABC Afterschool Special about dyslexia; the two played brothers. At the time, Joaquin was using the name Leaf, which he had chosen for himself when he was six years old. He returned to using his birth name around the age of 16.

Making his film debut in 1986, Phoenix had a supporting role as a wannabe astronaut in the kids adventure movie SpaceCamp. He also tried his hand at primetime drama with Morningstar/Eveningstar, a story of homeless children who find shelter at a facility for senior citizens. Unfortunately, this meeting of the young and old only lasted a few episodes before being canceled.

Remarkably, one of his biggest breaks came when Phoenix left Hollywood. He had moved to Florida, when he landed a role in the Ron Howard-directed comedy Parenthood (1989). In the film, Phoenix gave an impressive performance as the rebellious son of Dianne Wiest. After this success Phoenix, who was then only 15 years old, decided to put his career on hold to travel on his own through Latin America. While he avoided Hollywood, his brother River stood in the spotlight, becoming one of the leading young actors at the time.

Tragedy Strikes

In 1993, tragedy forced Phoenix back into the public eye. He was with his famous brother, River, partying at the Viper Room nightclub. Outside the club, River collapsed and began having convulsions. Joaquin phoned for help, and paramedics arrived to resuscitate River. Their efforts failed, however, and River was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead in the early hours of October 31. Later, Joaquin's anguished 911 call was played and replayed by the media, only compounding his grief.

Returning to acting, Phoenix played an alienated underachieving teen who is seduced by a success-hungry news reporter (Nicole Kidman) in Gus Van Sant's To Die For (1995). A wave of films soon followed. In the romantic drama Inventing the Abbotts (1997), he was paired up on screen with Liv Tyler. That coupling evolved into an off-screen relationship. Phoenix worked with director Oliver Stone on the neo-noir thriller U-Turn (1997). Despite having a strong cast, which included Sean Penn and Claire Danes, the film was a box office dud. The following year, Phoenix earned raves for his performance as an American imprisoned in Malaysia on drug charges and facing the death penalty in Return to Paradise (1998). Vince Vaughn and David Conrad co-star as his two friends who must decide whether to return there and help remedy the