The performance made Joaquin (who had dropped Leaf and reverted to his birth name) a critics' darling in his own right. He finally signed up to work with Gus Van Sant (who had directed River in My Own Private Idaho (1991) and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)) to star as Nicole Kidman's obsessive devotee in To Die For (1995). Months later, at the insistence of friends and colleagues, Joaquin began reading through scripts again, but he was reluctant to re-enter the acting life until he found just the right part. Joaquin made the call to 911, which was rebroadcast on radio and television the world over. On October 31, 1993, he was at The Viper Room (a Los Angeles nightclub partly-owned by Johnny Depp) when his brother River collapsed from a drug overdose and later died. Joaquin returned to the public eye three years later under tragic circumstances. His parents were in the process of separating, so he struck out for Mexico with his father. His performance was very well-received, but Joaquin decided to withdraw from acting for a while-he was frustrated with the dearth of interesting roles for actors his age, and he wanted to see more of the world. As it happened, Universal Pictures had just opened a new studio in the area and he was cast almost immediately as an angst-ridden adolescent in Parenthood (1989). River's film career had enough momentum to sustain the move, but Joaquin wasn't sure what lay in store for him in the Sunshine State. In the late '80s, the Phoenix clan decided to pull up stakes and relocate again-this time to Florida. He made his big-screen debut as the youngest crew member in the interstellar romp SpaceCamp (1986), then won his first starring turn in the Cold War-era drama Russkies (1987). He worked with his brother again on the afterschool special Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984), then struck out on his own in other made-for-TV productions. Joaquin's first real acting gig was a guest appearance on River's sitcom, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982). Commercials for meat, milk, and junk food were off-limits (the kids were all raised as strict vegans), but they managed to find plenty of work pushing other products. They eventually found an agent who was willing to represent all five children, and the younger generation dove into television work. Arlyn found work as a secretary at NBC, and John turned his talents to landscaping. The family moved often, traveling through Central and South America (and adopting the surname "Phoenix" to celebrate their new beginnings) but, by the time Joaquin was age 6, they had more or less settled in the Los Angeles area. Younger sisters Liberty Phoenix and Summer Phoenix rounded out the talented troupe. When the children were encouraged to develop their creative instincts, he followed their lead into acting. As a youngster, Joaquin took his cues from older siblings River Phoenix and Rain Phoenix, changing his name to Leaf to match their earthier monikers. His mother is from a Jewish family from New York, while his father, from California, is of mostly British Isles descent. His parents, from the continental United States, were then serving as Children of God missionaries. Joaquin Phoenix was born Joaquin Rafael Bottom in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Arlyn (Dunetz) and John Bottom, and is the middle child in a brood of five.
0 kommentar(er)
