Joaquin Phoenix

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Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (pronounced Template:IPA) (born October 28, 1974 in San Juan, Puerto Rico), once also known as Leaf Phoenix, is an Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning, Puerto Rican-born, American actor. Image:Walk the Line phoenix.jpg He often plays supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. Phoenix is a devout vegan. He has stated on numerous occasions that he has never watched any of his performances on screen.

Upon being cast as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line after Cash himself approved, Phoenix responded by buying a guitar and learning how to play. He spent several years practicing in-character as Johnny Cash before principal photography, including voice and guitar lessons, and mimicking Cash's personae. In 2006, he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, and won a Golden Globe in the same category, for his portrayal. Reese Witherspoon, who portrayed June Carter Cash in the film, stated during an interview that when they first performed in-character before a live audience, she was so impressed with his impersonation that she knew she "had to step it up a notch". Indeed, all of the vocal tracks in the movie and on the accompanying soundtrack are played and sung by Phoenix and Witherspoon.

The scar on Phoenix's lip is popularly believed to be the result of a repaired cleft lip. However, he has stated in interviews that his mother, while pregnant with him, felt a sharp pain one day and he was born with a scar on his lip. The birth scar is a microform, almost taking the form of a cleft, as the tissues just reached far enough to join up. If the bone and muscle tissues joined correctly no surgery or cleft repair is required.

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Early life, siblings

Phoenix's father, John Lee Bottom, is of Irish and Spanish descent; his mother, Arlyn Sharon Dunetz, was born in the Bronx, New York City to Orthodox Jewish (see [1], [2]) emigrants from Hungary and Russia.

Shortly after they met, the two joined the Children of God cult and began traveling throughout South America as missionaries. Joaquin Phoenix was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and lived there until he was six years old; he speaks Spanish fluently.

He is the third of five children, the others are River (1970 - 1993), Rain (or "Rainbow Joan of Arc"; 1973), Liberty Butterfly (or "Libertad Mariposa"; 1976), and Summer (or "Summer Joy"; 1978).

After leaving the cult and returning to the USA (upon which they adopted the surname "Phoenix"), John and Arlyn Phoenix encouraged their children to develop their creative instincts. Since his siblings had nature-related names, Joaquin changed his name to "Leaf."

The family moved to Los Angeles, where his mother started working as a secretary for NBC, and his father became a landscaper. His parents hired an agent, who eventually got the five children acting work.

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Film career

Image:Commodusj.jpg Phoenix's first acting jobs were guest appearances on two television shows with his brother River: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982) and Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984).

He made his big-screen debut in Space Camp (1986), playing the role of Max, and his first starring role was in Russkies (1987). He went on to establish himself as a child actor in Parenthood (1989), before deciding to withdraw from acting for a while and move to Mexico with his father.

Phoenix came back into public view under tragic circumstances — he was the person who dialed 9-1-1 when his brother River suffered a fatal drug overdose outside Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room.

He was reluctant to re-enter the world of acting, but he did so at the insistence of his friends. He changed his name from "Leaf" back to "Joaquin."

He portrayed a troubled teen in Gus Van Sant's To Die For, and has earned positive reviews for adult roles as the cruel Roman emperor Commodus in Gladiator (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), a conflicted priest in Quills, a washed-up baseball player in M. Night Shyamalan's Signs, and a lovestruck farmer in Shyamalan's The Village.

On January 26, 2006, a few days after his Golden Globe win for Walk The Line, he and another person were involved in an auto accident in the Hollywood Hills suburb in Los Angeles when his SUV flipped over and skidded onto its side. He suffered no serious injuries, and was pulled from his overturned car, in a bizarre detail, by German art film director Werner Herzog, whose home was located nearby. Phoenix appeared at the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards a few days later.

Phoenix is rumored to be cast as John Kelly (aka John Clark) in the film version of Tom Clancy's best-selling novel, Without Remorse. This is unconfirmed as of April 2006.

He has recently admitted himself into rehab to deal with alcoholism. He is also a chain smoker.

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Selected filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
2007 Without Remorse John Kelly Rumored
2007 We Own the Night Joseph
2005 Walk The Line Johnny Cash Golden Globe win, Oscar nom
2004 Hotel Rwanda Jack Daglish
2004 The Village Lucius Hunt
2004 Ladder 49 Jack Morrison
2003 It's All About Love John
2003 Brother Bear Kenai voice only
2002 Signs Merrill Hess
2001 Buffalo Soldiers Ray Elwood
2000 Gladiator Commodus Oscar nomination
2000 Quills The Abbe du Coulmier
2000 The Yards Willie Gutierrez
1998 Return to Paradise Lewis McBride
1998 Clay Pigeons Clay Bidwell
1998 8mm Max California
1997 Inventing the Abbotts Doug Holt
1997 U-Turn Toby N. Tucker a.k.a. TNT
1995 To Die For Jimmy Emmett
1989 Parenthood Garry Buckman-Lampkin
1987 Russkies Danny
1986 Space Camp Max
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See also


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External links

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