The Heartbreaking Life of Joaquin Phoenix

[Music] this American actor is arguably among the greatest talents of his generation but he's also notoriously private evasive and interviews and just generally mysterious I used to be funny my life was a tragedy [Music] it's a comedy welcome to watchmojo.com Phoenix do you believe that God will save you from your own ridiculousness before we begin we publish new content every day so be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos the life of a movie star is enough to make anyone behave oddly or retreat inwards but based on what we do know about Joaquin Phoenix it's safe to say that he's had it even tougher than most in fact considering everything he's been through it's a testament to his willpower and immense talent that he's managed to achieve the level of success he has a life lived in the spotlight is never an easy one but the entertainment industry is particularly taxing on children when you're going to auditions and working on film sets it doesn't leave much time for the simple things as a kid Phoenix never achieved the celebrity status akin to the likes of Drew Barrymore Macaulay Culkin but between 1982 and 1989 he appeared on a number of television series and played a prominent role in films like Space Camp and Parenthood while he may not have ever cracked the child star a-list he nonetheless arguably had it worse than higher-profile young talents we see when Joaquin was growing up his parents along with he and his siblings were members of a now infamous cult the children of God at the time the family name was bottom and his parents Arlen and John Lee were actually missionaries charged with spreading the teachings of their alternative faith the Joaquin's parents would leave the movement by the time Joaquim was only three or four it nonetheless affected his upbringing John and Arlen's missionary work took them and their children traveling throughout Latin America without any real income the family resorted to having the children beg while the parents preached according to Joaquin older brother River their home outside Venezuela's capital Caracas was a quote rat-infested shack with no toilet Joaquin maintains in interviews that his parents join the movement with good intentions believing they'd found like minded spiritual people and he insists they left the children of God as soon as they recognize that all was not right with the organization nonetheless comments from his family suggests that the cult had a negative impact on their lives the children of God have been accused of encouraging child sexuality both between children and between children and adults for the record while Keane has never suggested that he himself was exposed to such activity but River once told details magazine that he lost his virginity at age 4 to other quote kids and his mother quoted rivers saying about the cult quote they're disgusting they're ruining people's lives in 1978 while Keens family left the children of God and relocated back to the United States it was the start of a new chapter for the family and it was around this time that they changed their name from bottom to Phoenix as a symbol of their new beginnings while very different from their time living in Venezuela this next chapter was by no means an easy one for starters they had to make their way to the US by stowing away on a freighter ship and even upon arriving Phoenix's childhood in LA was characterized first and foremost by poverty the exact details are murky and the timeline unclear but the family was at one point homeless and living out of their car and at another sharing a one-bedroom apartment between the seven of them as for the kids they've gone from begging in the streets of South America to busking in Los Angeles although their main aim was to put food on the table the performances put on by the Phoenix children both on the street and a talent shows eventually caught the attention of talent agent iris Burton who turned both Joaquin and river into bonafide stars [Music] of course with success come the problems of celebrityhood a lifetime of public scrutiny and opportunities for self-destruction often the biggest moments in an actor's career compared with extreme lows we're jumping forward a bit here but in Joaquin's case this is perhaps best illustrated by his struggles with alcohol in the mid Ott's a method actor Phoenix really committed himself to the role of Johnny Cash for the 2005 film walk the line the iconic country singer had a well-documented history of drug and alcohol addiction however and it would seem that the latter of the two demons got its claws into Phoenix too the film took Joaquin's career to new heights and earned him an Academy Award nomination but it also sent him to rehab walk the line wasn't the only time that method acting got the actor into trouble for the 2010 mockumentary I'm still here while Keane quit acting in 2008 began a rap career and seemingly spiraled out of control impressive so people there's new and I think I do comfortable and I thought that I could just like jump into this and have this event that people thought the actor had lost his mind especially after a bizarre interview on David Letterman in the end it turns out that he was just doing his job and acting like a star in crisis here's the thing though Phoenix was fully committing to the role whenever in public and by his own admission there were times he had misgivings about what the project was demanding of him for better or worse he stuck with it embarrassing himself in the name of the film even when he had doubts no wonder acting gives him such anxiety you're really creepy dude that's not true Joaquin Phoenix's life has clearly been a difficult one from his early childhood up to the present day but if there's a single event that makes it truly heartbreaking it's the tragic death of his brother River Phoenix on October 31st 1993 Joaquin and River went to the Los Angeles nightclub the Viper Room with their youngest sister rain and rivers girlfriend Samantha Mathis River was supposed to perform with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist flea that night sadly the young talent tonight ended with a fatal overdose of speedball a mixture of heroin and cocaine it was Joaquin who made the call to 911 call that was leaked to the news and repeatedly played in the days and weeks to follow while Keane was just 19 at the time and understandably overwhelmed by the loss retreated from acting for about a year before returning to the spotlight and that is the heartbreaking life of Joaquin Phoenix he's one of the greatest actors of his generation but his journey is one that few people would envy beautiful do you agree with our picks check out these other great clips from WatchMojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos you

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Id: 6EbqQF7V9IY

Length: 7min 33sec (453 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 28 2019