The actor was born in Puerto Rico and has been a vegan since early childhood. He once told Collider in an interview that he still remembers what made him become a vegan: "Really it was seeing these fish being killed when I was on a boat as a kid. [...] I just had a profound strong reaction." Still today, he is a strong supporter of animal welfare.
Joaquin Phoenix' parents were part of a religious movement
Until Joaquin moved to Los Angeles with his parents, his mother and father worked as missionaries for the religious movement Children of God. After they left Children of God, they changed their last name from Bottom to Phoenix - after the mystic bird that rises from its own ashes.
Joaquin has been present on the big screen much longer than many people realize. In the late 1980's, he played the role of "Max" in the movie Space Camp - it was his first major role in a feature. At that time, he was still going by a different first name: As a child, he called himself "Leaf".
The reason behind it is that all his siblings (River, Liberty, Rain, and Summer) have names with a certain connection to nature, but he did not. He started going by the name Joaquin at the age of 15.
Joaquin Phoenix: Golden Globe for Walk the Line
In 2005, the actor played country legend Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. He sang all the songs in the movie himself. Phoenix won a Golden Globe for his performance and the original soundtrack from the movie won a Grammy Award.
The movie comes out December 13
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