Joaquin Phoenix – l0 Fascinating Film Facts

Ahead of the release of Joker Folie a Deux, here are 10 facts about Joaquin Phoenix you might not
know

• Joaquin Phoenix was actually born Joaquin Rafael Bottom on October 28th 1974 in Puerto Rico. His family legally adopted the ‘Phoenix’ surname when he was young

• Staying on the name theme, Joaquin’s siblings are named Rain, Liberty, Summer and River who sadly passed away when Phoenix was younger. Joaquin, wanting a nature-related name like them referred to himself and was known professionally as “leaf” until the early 1990s after which he reverted to his birth name Joaquin

•   Phoenix won his first Oscar for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck in the 2019 film Joker where he scooped the Best Actor award. Before then he was nominated 3 times previously for his roles in Gladiator, Walk the Line and The Master;

• Johnny Cash personally chose Phoenix to play himself in Walk the Line after seeing his performance in Gladiator. Phoenix did his own vocals on the soundtrack for the film;

• Phoenix credits his late brother River for making him return to acting after he gave it up earlier in life stating that his brother made him watch the film Raging Bull on back to back days before telling, not asking, him that he was going to act again, something that he is indebted to him for;

• Phoenix is an animal rights activist, stating that it is one of the most important pillars of his life. He has also been a vegan since the age of 3 and refuses to wear clothes made from animals, insisting that any ‘leather’ he wears for film roles is synthetic

• Phoenix has been in a relationship with actress Rooney Mara since 2016. They have two children;

• Phoenix has a black belt in Karate;

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• Joaquin and River Phoenix are the first brothers to be nominated for acting Academy Awards

• After winning his Oscar for Joker following Heath Ledger’s Oscar win for the same character he followed in the footsteps of Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro who are the only other pair of actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same character for their portrayals of Vito Corleone;