Joaquin Phoenix facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joaquin Phoenix
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Phoenix in 2024
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Joaquin Rafael Bottom
October 28, 1974 San Juan, Puerto Rico
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| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Leaf Phoenix |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1982–present |
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Works
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Filmography |
| Spouse(s) | Rooney Mara (2016–present) |
| Children | 2 |
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| Relatives |
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| Awards | Full list |
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is famous for playing unique and sometimes dark characters. He has won many important awards, like an Academy Award (also called an Oscar), a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, The New York Times said he was one of the best actors of the 21st century.
Joaquin started acting on TV in the early 1980s with his brother, River. His first big movie roles were in SpaceCamp (1986) and Parenthood (1989). Back then, he used the name Leaf Phoenix. He changed back to Joaquin in the 1990s. He earned praise for his roles in To Die For (1995) and Quills (2000).
He became even more famous for playing Commodus in the movie Gladiator (2000). This role earned him an Oscar nomination. He also starred in the horror films Signs (2002) and The Village (2004). He won a Grammy Award and a Golden Globe Award for playing musician Johnny Cash in Walk the Line (2005).
After a short break, Joaquin starred in The Master (2012). He won an award at the Venice Film Festival for this role. He also got great reviews for Her (2013) and Inherent Vice (2014). He won another award at the Cannes Film Festival for You Were Never Really Here (2017). In 2019, he won an Oscar for Best Actor for his role as the Joker in the movie Joker. More recently, he starred in C'mon C'mon (2021) and Beau Is Afraid (2023). He also played Napoleon in the 2023 film Napoleon.
Besides acting, Joaquin Phoenix is a strong supporter of animal rights. He has been vegan since he was three years old. He often helps charities and has made movies about how eating meat affects the environment.
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Early Life and Family
Joaquin Rafael Bottom was born on October 28, 1974, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is the third of five children. His older siblings are River and Rain. His younger sisters are Liberty and Summer. All of his siblings have also acted.
When Joaquin was young, his family traveled a lot. They were part of a religious group called Children of God. They lived in South America and Puerto Rico. In 1977, his family left the group. They did not agree with some of its rules.
After leaving, the family moved to Florida. They changed their last name to Phoenix. This name was inspired by the mythical bird that rises from ashes. It symbolized a new start for them.
When Joaquin was three, he and his older siblings saw fish being caught. This made the whole family decide to become vegan. This means they do not eat any animal products. Around this time, Joaquin started calling himself "Leaf." He liked nature and wanted a name like his siblings. He used this name until he was fifteen. Then he changed it back to Joaquin.
Acting Career Highlights
Starting Out (1980–1993)
In 1979, Joaquin's family moved to Los Angeles. His mother found an agent who helped her children get acting jobs. Joaquin first appeared on TV in 1982. He was in an episode of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
In 1984, he acted with his brother River in a TV special. It was called Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia. They both got nominated for an award for their acting. Joaquin also appeared in shows like Murder, She Wrote and Hill Street Blues.
His first movie was SpaceCamp (1986). He played a young boy learning about space. His first main role was in Russkies (1987). In 1989, he starred in the popular movie Parenthood. He played a shy teenager named Garry. Critics liked his performance. He was nominated for a Young Artist Award.
After this, Joaquin took a break from acting. He traveled to Mexico with his father. His brother River encouraged him to start acting again. A very sad event happened in 1993 when his older brother, River, passed away. This was a difficult time for Joaquin and his family. They moved to Costa Rica to get away from the media.
Returning to Acting (1994–1999)
Joaquin returned to acting in 1995. He starred in the movie To Die For. Critics praised his performance. The New York Times said he was an "actor to watch for."
In 1997, he was in U Turn and Inventing the Abbotts. These movies did not do as well. In 1998, he was in Clay Pigeons. In 1999, he starred in 8mm and The Yards. The Yards was his first movie with director James Gray.
Big Success and Awards (2000–2010)
In 2000, Joaquin was in three movies. He played the Roman Emperor Commodus in Gladiator. This movie was a huge hit. It earned over $457 million worldwide. Critics loved Joaquin's acting. He was nominated for his first Oscar for this role. He and his brother River became the only brothers to be nominated for acting Oscars.
He also starred in Quills (2000). He played a priest in this film. For all his roles that year, he won several awards.
In 2002, Joaquin starred in the science fiction movie Signs. He played Merrill Hess, who discovers aliens with his brother. The movie made over $408 million worldwide. Critics praised Joaquin's performance.
In 2003, he voiced Kenai in the Disney animated film Brother Bear. He was very happy to be in a Disney movie. The film earned $250 million worldwide. He then reunited with director M. Night Shyamalan in The Village (2004). This movie was also a financial success.
In 2004, he starred in Ladder 49 as a firefighter. He trained with real firefighters for two months. He also appeared in Hotel Rwanda, a critically acclaimed film about the Rwandan genocide.
In 2005, Joaquin played Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. He sang all of Cash's songs himself in the movie. Critics were amazed by his performance. He won a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award for this role. He also received another Oscar nomination. That same year, he narrated Earthlings, a movie about animal abuse. He won a Humanitarian Award for his work on this film.
In 2007, he starred in We Own the Night. He also played a father looking for his son's killer in Reservation Road. In 2008, he starred in Two Lovers. Critics called it one of his best performances.
Continued Success (2011–Present)
In 2012, Joaquin starred in The Master. He lost a lot of weight for the role. He won an award at the Venice Film Festival. Critics called his performance "career-defining." He received his third Oscar nomination for this film.
In 2013, he starred in Her. He played a man who falls in love with a computer operating system. Critics praised his emotional performance. He received another Golden Globe nomination.
In 2014, he was in Inherent Vice. In 2015, he narrated Unity, another animal rights documentary. He also starred in Irrational Man.
In 2017, Joaquin starred in the thriller You Were Never Really Here. He played a former FBI agent who finds missing girls. He won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for this role. Critics called his performance "haunting."
In 2018, he played Jesus in Mary Magdalene. He also starred in Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and The Sisters Brothers. In The Sisters Brothers, he played an assassin with John C. Reilly. Critics praised their chemistry. He also narrated Dominion, an animal rights documentary.
In 2019, Joaquin starred as the Joker in the movie Joker. He lost 52 pounds for the role. The movie was a huge success, earning over $1 billion. It was the first R-rated film to do so. Critics praised Joaquin's "extraordinary" performance. He won an Oscar for Best Actor for this role. He also won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a SAG Award.
In 2021, he starred in C'mon C'mon. He played a radio journalist traveling with his nephew. Critics called his performance "lovely, empathetic, humane." In 2023, he starred in Beau Is Afraid. He played a paranoid man on a strange journey. He received another Golden Globe nomination for this role.
Later in 2023, he played Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon. This was his second movie with director Ridley Scott. In 2024, he played Joker again in Joker: Folie à Deux. He will also star in upcoming films like Polaris and Eddington.
Other Activities
Music Videos
Joaquin Phoenix has directed music videos for several bands. These include Ringside, She Wants Revenge, and Silversun Pickups.
Animal Rights Activism
Joaquin is known as one of the most active celebrities in the animal rights movement. He has been vegan since he was three years old. He does not wear clothes made from animal skin. He asks that all his costumes in movies are made from fake materials.
He believes that animal rights are very important. He says that "climate change is coming if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle." He helps people understand how animal rights, climate change, and health are connected.
PETA named him "Person of the Year" in 2019. PETA's president said Joaquin "never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight... onto animals' plight." He supports many animal rights groups, including PETA.
"We go into the natural world, and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow, and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. Then we take her milk that's intended for her calf, and we put it in our coffee and our cereal. And I think we fear the idea of personal change because we think that we have to sacrifice something, to give something up, but human beings, at our best, are so inventive and creative and ingenious. And I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment."
Joaquin has led many campaigns to promote veganism. He wants to end animal slaughter. In 2019, he and his partner Rooney Mara led a demonstration for animal rights. In 2020, he was arrested at a climate change protest in Washington, D.C. He spoke about how animal farming affects climate change.
He also cares about fish. He says fish are often forgotten in animal rights discussions. In 2013, he made a PETA video to show how fish suffer.
During the 2019–2020 awards season, Joaquin helped make five award shows serve meat-free meals. This started with the Golden Globe Awards. He thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for this "bold move." The Critics' Choice and SAG followed. He contacted the presidents of the award ceremonies. He argued that meat farming causes climate change. The Academy Awards also announced that all food served before the Oscars would be vegan.
After winning his Oscar in 2020, Joaquin helped rescue a cow and her newborn calf from a slaughterhouse. They were taken to a sanctuary. He also starred in Guardians of Life, a short film about environmental issues.
Two animal species have been named after him. A trilobite species was named Gladiatoria phoenix in 2011. This was for his role in Gladiator. In 2020, a spider species was named Loureedia phoenixi (the Joker spider). This was because its colors matched the Joker character.
Other Activism
In 2020, Joaquin worked with JusticeLA. They created a public service announcement about the health of people in jails during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October 2023, he signed an open letter to President Joe Biden. The letter called for a ceasefire during the conflict in Gaza. It said that all life is important, no matter their background.
Personal Life
Beliefs and Lifestyle
After becoming a successful actor, Joaquin moved back to Los Angeles. He does not like celebrity culture. He rarely gives interviews and keeps his private life quiet. In 2018, he said he is a secular Jew. This means he does not follow an organized religion. He believes in forgiveness.
As a longtime vegan, Joaquin finds animal agriculture "absurd and barbaric." He explained his reasons for being vegan: "I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature." He also mentioned the harm it does to the environment.
Relationships and Family
From 1995 to 1998, Joaquin dated his co-star Liv Tyler. They are still close friends. He also dated model Topaz Page-Green from 2001 to 2005. From 2013 to 2015, he was with artist Allie Teilz.
In 2012, Joaquin met his Her co-star Rooney Mara. They became friends. Four years later, they started dating while making the movie Mary Magdalene. They got engaged in 2019. In August 2020, they had a son. In June 2024, they welcomed their second child. They live in the Hollywood Hills. Joaquin says his family life is simple. He enjoys meditating, watching documentaries, and taking karate classes. He has a black belt in karate. In September 2024, Joaquin and Rooney officially got married.
Awards and Recognition
Joaquin Phoenix has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) for these roles:
- 73rd Academy Awards (2001): Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing Commodus in Gladiator.
- 78th Academy Awards (2006): Nominated for Best Actor for playing Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.
- 85th Academy Awards (2013): Nominated for Best Actor for playing Freddie Quell in The Master.
- 92nd Academy Awards (2020): Won Best Actor for playing Arthur Fleck / Joker in Joker.
He has won two Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor for Walk the Line and Best Actor for Joker. He also won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker. Joaquin won a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the Walk The Line soundtrack. He also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for The Master and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for You Were Never Really Here.
See also
In Spanish: Joaquin Phoenix para niños
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
- List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
- List of Puerto Ricans
- List of animal rights advocates
- List of vegans
