Who is Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix was born in October 1974. His most famous roles include Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, Commodus in Gladiator, and Jack Morrison in Ladder 49.

He was born Joaquin Rafael Bottom, in Puerto Rico, the middle child in a family of five. Acting ran in the Phoenix family, and soon Joaquin followed in his older brother (River) and sisters (Rain) footsteps and became an actor himself.

In the early days of his acting career he was known as Leaf Phoenix. After several successful, but to him challenging roles Joaquin withdrew from the public eye for a few years.

He was thrust back into the spotlight when his brother River collapsed and later died from a drug overdose in front of a popular L. A. nightclub. Joaquin made the tragic 911 call that was later replayed by almost every broadcast studio.

Several months later, after being coaxed by friends Joaquin restarted his acting career. He dropped Leaf, and began going by his real first name, Joaquin.

Since then he's starred in several challenging and successful movies and films.