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 family of five siblings. His parents, who were serving as Children of God missionaries, had a diverse background, with his mother from a Jewish family in New York and his father of mostly British Isles descent. Joaquin took his cues from his older siblings, River and Rain Phoenix, changing his name to Leaf to match their earthier monikers.
As a youngster, Joaquin followed his siblings into acting, with the family moving often throughout Central and South America. They eventually settled in the Los Angeles area, where Arlyn found work as a secretary at NBC and John turned his talents to landscaping. The family found an agent who was willing to represent all five children, and they began working in television, appearing in commercials and made-for-TV productions.
Joaquin's first real acting gig was a guest appearance on his brother River's sitcom, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, in 1982. He went on to work with his brother again on the afterschool special Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia, before striking out on his own in other made-for-TV productions. His big-screen debut came in the interstellar romp SpaceCamp in 1986, followed by a starring turn in the Cold War-era drama Russkies in 1987.
In the late 1980s, the Phoenix clan relocated to Florida, where Joaquin was cast in the Cold War-era drama Parenthood in 1989. His performance was well-received, but Joaquin decided to withdraw from acting for a while, feeling frustrated with the lack of interesting roles for actors his age. He spent time traveling with his father and eventually returned to acting three years later.
Tragedy struck in 1993 when Joaquin's brother River collapsed from a drug overdose and later died. Joaquin made the call to 911, which was rebroadcast on radio and television worldwide. He began reading through scripts again at the insistence of friends and colleagues, but was reluctant to re-enter the acting life until he found the right part.
Joaquin finally signed up to work with Gus Van Sant on the film To Die For in 1995, playing the role of Nicole Kidman's obsessive devotee. The performance made him a critics' darling in his own right. He went on to star in Inventing the Abbotts in 1997, scoring critical kudos and introducing him to his one-time fiancée Liv Tyler.
Joaquin's follow-up turn in Oliver Stone's U Turn in 1997 scored more critical kudos, and he played a locked-up drug scapegoat in Return to Paradise in 1998. He and "Paradise" co-star Vince Vaughn re-teamed almost immediately for the small-town murder caper Clay Pigeons, which Joaquin followed with a turn as a porn store clerk in 8MM in 1999.
The film that confirmed Phoenix as a star was the historical epic Gladiator in 2000, in which he played the selfish, paranoid young emperor Commodus opposite Russell Crowe's swarthy hero. Determined to make his character as real as possible, Phoenix gained weight and cultivated a pasty complexion during the shoot. He received international attention and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for that role.
Later that year, he appeared in two indies, playing a dock worker in The Yards and the priest in charge of the Marquis de Sade's asylum in Quills. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor as the legendary musician Johnny Cash in the biography Walk the Line in 2005.
