Biography of Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix has gained quite a bit of attention for his tour de force performances. But his life off-screen has been more interesting than any character he has played on-screen. This brief biography will discuss his early life, how he began acting, and his most notable roles.

Joaquin Phoenix was born in 1974 in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a missionary couple for the Children of God. He did not move to the United States until he was six, at which time, his family changed their last name from Bottom to Phoenix. His brother, River Phoenix, began working in show business almost immediately.

He got his first acting job on "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" with his brother River. It was a small part, and it wasn't until the movie "Spacecamp" in 1986 that he entered films. Phoenix had several television acting jobs prior to that, but they were all one episode acting jobs or short-lived shows. During this time, he was known as Leaf Phoenix, a name he came up with while his dad was raking leafs one day. He changed it to Leaf because his brothers and sisters had nature related names, and people were always having difficulty pronouncing the name Joaquin.

Despite a few more acting jobs under the name Leaf, he did not enjoy the success his brother River experienced, and he left acting and went to Mexico for a short time with his father. A tragic event is what brought him back into the public attention. When his brother River fatally overdosed at the Viper Room, Joaquin was the one who called 911.

After a few years, he returned to acting under his original name Joaquin. He made this return in the film "To Die For" with Nicole Kidman, and received rave reviews as a troubled teen. His breakout role was as the Roman emperor Commodus in "Gladiator", which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His next role received rave reviews, but was in a film that many in the general public would never watch, as a conflicted Priest in "Quills", a movie about the Marquis de Sade.

He went on to do "Signs" and "The Village" with M. Night Shyamalan. His next big role was one that took quite a bit of convincing to get it to happen. Filmmakers wanted to do a biopic of Johnny Cash, but had a bit of trouble convincing Mr. Cash to allow it. Finally he relented when he met with Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix and the filmmakers received Cash's blessing for the movie "Walk the Line", but Cash did not live long enough to see the movie released. Phoenix spent months learning to play the guitar and sing for the role, and was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, and won a Golden Globe award for his effort.

Joaquin Phoenix has had a very interesting life. Despite having some notable roles, he has not yet found that career defining role that moviegoers remember long after the star is gone, such as Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire". One cannot help but wonder if it's because the material is no match for his abilities. With what is hopefully many years left to make movies and put his own mark on film, Phoenix is one star for whom a career defining role is certain. Which one remains to be seen.