Joaquin Phoenix - Coming Into His Own

by Libby Pelham | More from this Blogger

15 Mar 2006 10:09 PM

Joaquin Phoenix was hand picked by Johnny Cash to portray him in Walk the Line. Like Johnny, Joaquin had plenty of personal tragedies and internal demons to deal with and quite possibly drew upon them to help his art, just as Johnny did.

Joaquin Phoenix was born in Puerto Rico to John and Heart, missionaries of the controversial Children of God sect. He was one of five, all of which would eventually have careers in acting. With siblings named River, Rain, Liberty, and Summer, Joaquin felt his name was slightly out of place and briefly went by the name of Leaf. The family eventually settled in Los Angeles and an agent began finding them jobs in commercials. Joaquin made his big screen debut in 1986's Space Camp. He followed that up with Russkies and Parenthood. Feeling that roles for someone his age were lacking, Joaquin took time off from acting in the late 80's, as brother River's film career began to soar.

Joaquin returned to the limelight in a tragic way in 1993. He made the 911 call from Johnny Depp's Vipor Room the Halloween night that River died of a fatal overdose of drugs. After many months of mourning, Joaquin decided to return to acting. He received critical acclaim for his role in 1995's To Die For. It was in 2000 that Joaquin was finally taken seriously as an actor outside of his brother's shadow. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Commodus in Gladiator, losing that year to Benicio Del Toro for Traffic. He was nominated again in 2006 for his work as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. He lost to Phillip Seymour Hoffman, but do not think this is the last you will see of Joaquin Phoenix at the Academy Awards. You don't hear much about him in the tabloids because he tends to lay low, but his acting speaks for itself. Two of my favorite Joaquin Phoenix movies were filmed between his Academy Award nominations. He was excellent as scheming Army Specialist Ray Elwood in 2001's Buffalo Soldiers. I also loved him in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.

You may have already seen Joaquin in a movie and not even realized it. A true actor blends into the storyline so well, you may be so captivated by their character that you fail to notice the actor.

Learn more about Libby Pelham

Libby Pelham is a work-at-home mom located in Jacksonville, NC. She has a beautiful little boy, Will, born in July of 2004.

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bluetree (2947) 16 Mar 2006 06:29 AM

Joaquin has the coolest name in Hollywood.