how well do you know this leading man
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
things you didn’t know about Joaquin
Phoenix
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 for
this list we’re looking at interesting
trivia and little-known facts about
American actor Joaquin Phoenix
number 10 he’s still very anxious while
acting while king Phoenix is among the
most talented thespians of his
generation put him in a role and you can
all but guarantee that the end result
will be a remarkable performance
regardless of how the film itself
performs fish skin changes colors that’s
why we couldn’t see him that night as
such and given his decades of experience
in front of the camera you’d think that
onset would have become the environment
in which he’s most at home well
apparently not as he said in various
interviews over the years he’s actually
nervous every time he acts in 2013 he
told the Daily Mail that quote every
effing movie feels like it’s my first
he’s described his anxiety on set as
crippling and terrifying
well sure doesn’t show in the finished
number nine he doesn’t watch his own
films countless people love watching
Joaquin Phoenix’s movies but he is not
there are actually a number of big-name
actors out there who are apparently
uncomfortable watching themselves on
screen and therefore avoid it
it’s seemingly just too hard to enjoy a
film and turn off that’s self-critical
part of the brain
Javier Bardem Reese Witherspoon Nicole
Kidman Phoenix is in good company well
in the same business for his part what
Cain admits that he sometimes feels
curious but knows that the
self-awareness brought on by watching
himself could negatively impact his
future work he’s apparently only sat
through her and the master the latter at
director Paul Thomas Anderson’s request
nothing nothing that’s what I feel
nothing number 8 he went method for walk
the line Joaquin Phoenix is not afraid
to go to extreme lengths first craft he
gave up years of his life to play a
fictionalized version of himself for the
mockumentary I’m still here that
particular experiment was well
documented but what you might not know
is that he also took the method approach
to becoming Johnny Cash for the film
he not only taught himself to sing and
play the guitar like cash he also stayed
in character as the country star even
between takes Phoenix who insisted on
going by Cash’s legal birth name onset
jr. admitted being embarrassed by his
behavior in hindsight but hey whatever
[Music]
will you marry me number seven his
parents were cult missionaries joaquin
phoenix is indeed a very interesting man
and he had an upbringing to match the
middle child of five siblings born to
arlen phoenix and john lee bottom
joaquin spent his early years traveling
around South America with his family
I think they’re pretty much children his
parents were both Americans but as
members of the controversial children of
God new religious movement they moved
around a lot spreading the teachings of
the cult they would ultimately leave the
group in 1978 four years after the birth
of joaquin at which point the family
adopted the last name phoenix to
symbolize a new beginning after
returning to America
the Phoenix children got involved in
acting number six the cut on his lip is
a birthmark actors are chameleons
expected to play a wide variety of roles
and assume the backstories of the
characters they’re playing so as you may
have noticed very few of the big name
stars have distinct facial blemishes
Joaquin Phoenix is an exception however
burying a unique and quite noticeable
slash running vertically from his upper
lip to his nose at first glance it looks
like a scar others assert that it’s left
over from surgery to repair a medical
condition known as a cleft lip
apparently neither is correct however
though it might be an unusual one
according to Joaquin this line is
actually a birthmark ice cream on my
number 5 he was the one who called 911
suffered a fatal overdose after decades
performing in major films to critical
acclaim Joaquin is undoubtedly the most
famous of the Phoenix siblings nowadays
but when he was younger his older
brother River Phoenix with the family’s
biggest star she first heralded is one
of the greatest young talents in the
industry River sadly saw his journey cut
short when he died from a drug overdose
in 1993 at the age of 23 handling such a
tragic loss is always immensely hard but
Joaquin had the added burden of actually
having to make the emergency 911 call
sadly the media has very little respect
for privacy in the case of celebrity
deaths and the leaked phone call was
aired repeatedly in the aftermath
number four he went by the name leaf for
over a decade when you’re young
sometimes fitting in can feel really
important in the case of Joaquin Phoenix
who was born into a cult we can imagine
that fitting in was extra challenging
the third child born in his family
Joaquin was the first not to be given a
nature themed name something that he
clearly was not happy about taking his
identity into his own hands at the age
of just five years old he rechristened
himself leafed who better fit with his
elder siblings
apparently this also stemmed from
frustration over the fact that others
had trouble pronouncing his name
he’d go by leaf for over a decade until
1989 when he went back to Joaquin we
kind of miss it sometimes you’re missing
our friends but we go someplace we get
to meet other people you know but then
you have to say goodbye to them but you
know oh it’s pretty fun number three
he’s been a vegan since the age of three
have you ever thought about where your
pork comes from most people start to
experiment with different dietary
choices during their teens and for many
a young person a vegetarian or vegan
lifestyle is one that they might go back
and forth on a number of times before
really committing not Joaquin Phoenix
he’s been a vegan from the tender age of
just three years old as he explained in
an interview with Collider he was
inspired to stop eating meat after
seeing his family kill their catch on a
fishing trip even as a young child he
couldn’t help but see the injustice of
it all and has been vegan ever since he
won’t even wear leather for a role
please join me in calling on Walmart to
take a stand against cruelty to animals
by ditching pork from pigs locked in
gestation crates this is cruelty no
socially responsible corporations should
support and remember the best way to end
the suffering of pigs and other animals
is to simply stop eating them number two
he graduated from fire Academy for
ladder 49 remember when we were talking
about Joaquin Phoenix’s commitment to
well this is perhaps the most
staggeringly impressive example it’s one
thing to stay in character it’s another
thing entirely to actually live out the
characters past experiences and that is
exactly what the actor did in
preparation for his role as fireman Jack
according to ABC News in the lead up to
filming while Keane reportedly went
through six weeks of training at the
Baltimore Fire Academy successfully
graduating from the program he then went
on to work as a fireman on West
Baltimore struck ten for a month
no that’s commitment
[Music]
number one burner Hertzog may have saved
his life in 2006 while King Phoenix was
involved in a car accident thankfully he
walked away from it relatively unharmed
but this story could have ended very
differently the actor’s car reportedly
suffered from brake failure and wound up
flipping over on a side road in Los
Angeles though he wasn’t injured he was
apparently disoriented because he was
lying in the upturned car attempting to
light a cigarette despite there being
spilled gasoline everywhere explosive
consequences were thankfully avoided
when none other than legendary filmmaker
Verna Hertzog who lived nearby appeared
on the scene he apparently reassured
Phoenix that everything was fine helped
him out of the car and most importantly
took away the lighter 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
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
things you didn’t know about Joaquin
Phoenix
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 for
this list we’re looking at interesting
trivia and little-known facts about
American actor Joaquin Phoenix
number 10 he’s still very anxious while
acting while king Phoenix is among the
most talented thespians of his
generation put him in a role and you can
all but guarantee that the end result
will be a remarkable performance
regardless of how the film itself
performs fish skin changes colors that’s
why we couldn’t see him that night as
such and given his decades of experience
in front of the camera you’d think that
onset would have become the environment
in which he’s most at home well
apparently not as he said in various
interviews over the years he’s actually
nervous every time he acts in 2013 he
told the Daily Mail that quote every
effing movie feels like it’s my first
he’s described his anxiety on set as
crippling and terrifying
well sure doesn’t show in the finished
number nine he doesn’t watch his own
films countless people love watching
Joaquin Phoenix’s movies but he is not
there are actually a number of big-name
actors out there who are apparently
uncomfortable watching themselves on
screen and therefore avoid it
it’s seemingly just too hard to enjoy a
film and turn off that’s self-critical
part of the brain
Javier Bardem Reese Witherspoon Nicole
Kidman Phoenix is in good company well
in the same business for his part what
Cain admits that he sometimes feels
curious but knows that the
self-awareness brought on by watching
himself could negatively impact his
future work he’s apparently only sat
through her and the master the latter at
director Paul Thomas Anderson’s request
nothing nothing that’s what I feel
nothing number 8 he went method for walk
the line Joaquin Phoenix is not afraid
to go to extreme lengths first craft he
gave up years of his life to play a
fictionalized version of himself for the
mockumentary I’m still here that
particular experiment was well
documented but what you might not know
is that he also took the method approach
to becoming Johnny Cash for the film
he not only taught himself to sing and
play the guitar like cash he also stayed
in character as the country star even
between takes Phoenix who insisted on
going by Cash’s legal birth name onset
jr. admitted being embarrassed by his
behavior in hindsight but hey whatever
[Music]
will you marry me number seven his
parents were cult missionaries joaquin
phoenix is indeed a very interesting man
and he had an upbringing to match the
middle child of five siblings born to
arlen phoenix and john lee bottom
joaquin spent his early years traveling
around South America with his family
I think they’re pretty much children his
parents were both Americans but as
members of the controversial children of
God new religious movement they moved
around a lot spreading the teachings of
the cult they would ultimately leave the
group in 1978 four years after the birth
of joaquin at which point the family
adopted the last name phoenix to
symbolize a new beginning after
returning to America
the Phoenix children got involved in
acting number six the cut on his lip is
a birthmark actors are chameleons
expected to play a wide variety of roles
and assume the backstories of the
characters they’re playing so as you may
have noticed very few of the big name
stars have distinct facial blemishes
Joaquin Phoenix is an exception however
burying a unique and quite noticeable
slash running vertically from his upper
lip to his nose at first glance it looks
like a scar others assert that it’s left
over from surgery to repair a medical
condition known as a cleft lip
apparently neither is correct however
though it might be an unusual one
according to Joaquin this line is
actually a birthmark ice cream on my
number 5 he was the one who called 911
suffered a fatal overdose after decades
performing in major films to critical
acclaim Joaquin is undoubtedly the most
famous of the Phoenix siblings nowadays
but when he was younger his older
brother River Phoenix with the family’s
biggest star she first heralded is one
of the greatest young talents in the
industry River sadly saw his journey cut
short when he died from a drug overdose
in 1993 at the age of 23 handling such a
tragic loss is always immensely hard but
Joaquin had the added burden of actually
having to make the emergency 911 call
sadly the media has very little respect
for privacy in the case of celebrity
deaths and the leaked phone call was
aired repeatedly in the aftermath
number four he went by the name leaf for
over a decade when you’re young
sometimes fitting in can feel really
important in the case of Joaquin Phoenix
who was born into a cult we can imagine
that fitting in was extra challenging
the third child born in his family
Joaquin was the first not to be given a
nature themed name something that he
clearly was not happy about taking his
identity into his own hands at the age
of just five years old he rechristened
himself leafed who better fit with his
elder siblings
apparently this also stemmed from
frustration over the fact that others
had trouble pronouncing his name
he’d go by leaf for over a decade until
1989 when he went back to Joaquin we
kind of miss it sometimes you’re missing
our friends but we go someplace we get
to meet other people you know but then
you have to say goodbye to them but you
know oh it’s pretty fun number three
he’s been a vegan since the age of three
have you ever thought about where your
pork comes from most people start to
experiment with different dietary
choices during their teens and for many
a young person a vegetarian or vegan
lifestyle is one that they might go back
and forth on a number of times before
really committing not Joaquin Phoenix
he’s been a vegan from the tender age of
just three years old as he explained in
an interview with Collider he was
inspired to stop eating meat after
seeing his family kill their catch on a
fishing trip even as a young child he
couldn’t help but see the injustice of
it all and has been vegan ever since he
won’t even wear leather for a role
please join me in calling on Walmart to
take a stand against cruelty to animals
by ditching pork from pigs locked in
gestation crates this is cruelty no
socially responsible corporations should
support and remember the best way to end
the suffering of pigs and other animals
is to simply stop eating them number two
he graduated from fire Academy for
ladder 49 remember when we were talking
about Joaquin Phoenix’s commitment to
well this is perhaps the most
staggeringly impressive example it’s one
thing to stay in character it’s another
thing entirely to actually live out the
characters past experiences and that is
exactly what the actor did in
preparation for his role as fireman Jack
according to ABC News in the lead up to
filming while Keane reportedly went
through six weeks of training at the
Baltimore Fire Academy successfully
graduating from the program he then went
on to work as a fireman on West
Baltimore struck ten for a month
no that’s commitment
[Music]
number one burner Hertzog may have saved
his life in 2006 while King Phoenix was
involved in a car accident thankfully he
walked away from it relatively unharmed
but this story could have ended very
differently the actor’s car reportedly
suffered from brake failure and wound up
flipping over on a side road in Los
Angeles though he wasn’t injured he was
apparently disoriented because he was
lying in the upturned car attempting to
light a cigarette despite there being
spilled gasoline everywhere explosive
consequences were thankfully avoided
when none other than legendary filmmaker
Verna Hertzog who lived nearby appeared
on the scene he apparently reassured
Phoenix that everything was fine helped
him out of the car and most importantly
took away the lighter 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
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