joaquin phoenix

As a child Joaquin Phoenix and his siblings were asked by their parents to come up with new first names that would represent nature. Joaquin took the name Leaf, which went along well with older brothers River and Rain names.

When his siblings got into acting Joaquin followed in their path. His first role was in his brother River's sitcom Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He went on to do more acting with his brother, mostly in after-school specials. He eventually got sick of the roles he was getting as a young actor and took a break.

River collapsed from a drug overdoes while at a bar with Joaquin and later died after Phoenix made the 911 call. After dealing with the death of his brother and after pressure from friends and family, Joaquin got back into acting with a role in My Own Private Idaho

Since then Phoenix has been in some very successful films including U Turn, Gladiator, Signs and the Village.

Phoenix's latest role transform him into the late music legend Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. Phoenix is nominated for the best actor Golden Globe for his role as Cash, he stars with fellow nominee Reese Witherspoon.

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