His father and mother were “Children of God” missionaries. This sect combined faith in God with licentiousness. Members had to share partners. The Bottoms lived very poorly and had a low income. Our today’s hero has three sisters, with names suitable for hippie children – Liberty Mariposa (Free Butterfly), Summer Joy (Summer Joy), Rain Joan of Arc (Rainy Joanna D’arc) are also actresses. Joaquin also had a brother named River, a talented artist who was even called the new James Dean. And, like Dean, he died very young.
The father of the family, John Bottom, changed his name in 1977 as the family began a new life in Los Angeles. The reason for the change was that in the sect they fled from, the children were victims of pedophilia. The Phoenics family rose from the bottom to the top, like a phoenix from the ashes. However, at that time, the whole family was suffering even more poverty, they were homeless and slept in the car. To earn money, they played and sang in the street. There, Agent Iris Burton discovered them. The siblings’ acting career began shortly after. Young Joaquin’s name was Leaf at the time, and he and his brother and sister Summer made their debut in the series Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982) . His cinematic debut, on the other hand, is Space Camp (1986). For the next movie Take it easy, daddy he was nominated for the Young Artist Award.
The actor’s career was interrupted by the death of his older brother (due to an overdose of drugs). Joaquin witnessed the incident and called for help himself. It was 1993. This event caused him to withdraw from the industry for a while. He returned in 1995 with the role of In All Price , the next was incl. True Abbots , Road through Hell or the famous Eight Millimeters .
He became world famous after his role as Emperor Commodus in Gladiator . He was nominated for an Oscar for this film. He was nominated for his second role as Johnny Cash in ” A Walk on the Line” . By the way, he revealed his musical talent, singing all the hits personally. In 2008, he withdrew from the market again to return with the film The Master (third Oscar nomination).
But all of this was overshadowed by the one role he was simply created for. The comic book character Joker and the title role, for which he received not only a nomination, but also an Oscar. When in the film he says:
Everyone is terrible these days. It’s enough to make anyone go crazy. Everyone is howling and screaming at each other. Nobody is polite anymore. Nobody thinks what it’s like to be the other person –
we almost feel sorry for him, even though he killed mercilessly. And further:
What do you get when you mix a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like garbage?
It could be replied that you are getting someone who no longer has any brakes. Phoenix as the Joker brought out such a layer of madness that we leave the cinema stunned, not knowing what to feel. The best part is that although the actor initially swore he didn’t like sequels, he was persuaded. And he signed a contract for two more parts. Will they come to fruition? Time will tell.
He is a mainstream actor, an artist who has come through a difficult path. But thanks to this, when it appears on the screen, you cannot take your eyes off it, it just hypnotizes the viewer. In addition to a family’s self-destructive tendency, he is also a believer in the theory that one should fully commit to the role. Therefore, after the role of Johnny Cash, he unfortunately had to fall into alcoholism. After the film, the Joker developed anxiety, he heard voices …
A great price is paid for genius, don’t you think? However, in order not to finish the birthday article, I will add so sadly that Joaquin finally found happiness. He and actress Rooney Mara had a beautiful son this September. And they called him River.
