Joaquin Phoenix

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    • Joaquin has been nominated and won many times for his roles. Academy Awards: 2001 - Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Gladiator. 2006 - Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Walk the Line. BAFTA Awards: 2001 - Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Gladiator. 2006 - Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Walk the Line. Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: 2001 - Nominated and won Favorite Villain for Gladiator. British Independent Film Awards: 2003 - Nominated for Best Actor for Buffalo Soldiers. Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards: 2001 - Nominated and won for Best Supporting Actor for Quills, Gladiator, and The Yards. 2006 - Nominated for Best Actor for Walk the Line. Chicago Film Critics Association Awards: 2006 - Nominated for Best Actor for Walk the Line. Clotrudis Awards: 1996 - Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for To Die For. 2001 - Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Quills. CMT Music Awards: 2006 - Nominated along with Reese Witherspoon for Collaborative Video of the Year for Walk the Line. Csapnivalo Awards: 2000 - Nominated for Best Male Performance for Return to Paradise. Golden Globes: 2001 - Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for Gladiator. 2006 - Nominated and won for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for Walk the Line. Grammy Awards: 2007 - Nominated and won for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture - Television or Other Visual Media for Walk the Line. Hollywood Film Festival: 2005 - Nominated and won for Actor of the Year. Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards: 2000 - Nominated for a Sierra Award for Best Supporting Actor for both Quills and Gladiator. MTV Movie Awards: 2001 - Nominated for Best Line From a Movie and Best Villain for Gladiator. 2006 - Nominated for Best Performance for Walk the Line. Movie Guide Awards: 2005 - Nominated for Grace Award for Most Inspiring Movie Acting for Ladder 49. Music Video Production Association Awards: 2006 - Nominated for Directorial Debut, Direction of a New Artist, and Adult Contemporary. National Board of Review: 2000 - Nominated and won for Best Supporting Actor for Quills, Gladiator, and The Yards. Online Film Critics Society Awards: 2001 - Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Gladiator. 2006 - Nominated for Best Actor for Walk the Line. People Choice Awards: 2008 - Nominated and won for Favorite Leading Man. Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards: 2001 - Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for both Quills and Gladiator. San Diego Film Critics Society Awards: 2000 - Nominated and won for Special Award for Body of Work for Quills, Gladiator, and The Yards. Satelite Awards: 2001 - Nominated for Golden Satelite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Drama for Gladiator. 2005 - Nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for Walk the Line. SAG Awards: 2001 - Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture for Gladiator. 2005 - Nominated for Outstanding Performance by the Cast in a Motion Picture for Hotel Rwanda. 2006 - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Walk the Line. Teen Choice Awards: 2005 - Nominated for Choice Movie Actor - Drama for Ladder 49. Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards: 2005 - Nominated for Best Actor for Walk the Line. Young Artist Awards: 1985 - Nominated for Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture for Parenthood. 1990 - Nominated for Best Young Actor in a Family Film Made for Television for ABC Afterschool Specials: Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia.
    • Joaquin has participated in and supported 23 different causes and charities over the years.

      Some having to do with making our world a better place and helping those who live in it include: American Red Cross, amfAR, Amnesty International USA, The Art of Elysium, Aspen Filmfest, Chrysalis, Direct Current Media/4Real, Divided We Fail, Earth Love Movement Foundation, SOS/Live Earth, The Peace Alliance, The Happy Hearts Fund, Kiss For a Cause Film Foundation and Museum, The Lunchbox Fund, The Painted Turtle, HEART, The Peapod, and Rock'n Roll Fantasy Camp to Benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust.

      Others having to do with the protection of animals and their fur include: AFIPA, SPA, PETA, The Cool vs. Cruel Competition, and Earthlings.
    • Joaquin was chosen as one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive for 2007.
    • Joaquin earned $3,5000,00 for Walk the Line in 2005, $850,000 for Ladder 49 in 2004, $5,000,000 for The Village in 2004, $1,000,000 for Signs in 2002, $700,000 for Buffalo Soldiers in 2001 and $375,000 for Quills.
    • Joaquin doesn't like to watch his own screen performances, with the exception of his role in 2000's Quills.
    • Joaquin often plays the supporting role of insecure, conflicted characters with a dark side.
    • Joaquin replaced actor Mark Ruffalo when he pulled out of Signs for health reasons.
    • Joaquin narrated the film Earthlings on behalf of animal rights activist group, PETA. The video is about animal abuse in factory farms, pet mills, and in industry research.
    • Joaquin has directed music videos for Ringside, People in Planes, She Wants Revenge, Silversun Pickups, Arckid, and Albert Hammond Jr.
    • Joaquin was approved by Johnny Cash to play him in his movie, so Joaquin responded by buying a guitar and learning to play. He also spent hours with voice coaches, and spent several years practicing in-character as Johnny Cash.
    • Joaquin co-starred with Vince Vaughn in back to back hits in 1998. The first being the role of an imprisoned drug scapegoat, with Anne Heche in Return to Paradise. The second followed only a few months later, when he co-starred with Vince in a small town murder mystery in Clay Pigeons.
    • Joaquin's favorite childhood memory is one of his sister Summer and him, stealing chocolate bars and eating them behind their parent's strict vegan backs.
    • Joaquin and River are the first brothers to be nominated in the 'Acting' category for an Academy Award.
    • Joaquin favorite authors include Tennessee Williams, Rilke and Hubert Selby Jr.
    • Joaquin's hair used to be dirty blonde but was changed to black.
    • For his movie Ladder 49, Joaquin spent some time living in a firehouse and doing all the training the firefighters did. This is how he overcame his fear of heights.
    • Joaquin has been home-schooled throughout his childhood.
    • Joaquin has green eyes.
    • Joaquin has a tattoo of a circle on his arm.
    • Joaquin did his own vocals on the Walk the Line soundtrack.
    • Joaquin speaks Spanish fluently.
    • Contrary to popular belief, the scar on Joaquin's lip is not the result of a repaired cleft lip or palate. It is simply a birth mark. He has stated in interviews that, while pregnant with him, his mother felt a sharp pain one day, and he was born with a mark on his lip.
    • Joaquin's mother is of Hungarian-Russian descent and his father is of Spanish-Irish descent.
    • Joaquin resides in New York City in the same apartment building as best friend Casey Affleck and sister Summer Phoenix and director Gus Van Sant.
    • Joaquin is a strict vegan and will not wear costumes made out of animal skin. He once even refused to wear shoes during a photo shoot for Prada because they were made out of leather.
    • Joaquin is pronounced "WAA-keen"
    • Joaquin often takes his mother or sisters with him to premiers and awards shows.
    • Joaquin's nicknames are "Joaq" and "Kitten."
    • Joaquin is 5' 8" (1.73 m) tall.
    • Joaquin once dated Liv Tyler. They met during the filming of Inventing the Abbotts, and broke up in fall of 1998.

  • Quotes

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    • Joaquin Phoenix:(On his childhood and how his family was struggling money-wise) I remember us being poor, but I never felt embarrassed, or like I was missing anything. I don't remember the hardship of trying to make it, just how my parents always managed to get through.
    • Joaquin Phoenix:(On the people that would help out his family) We always had angels in our lives' people who became friends and are friends to this day.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: Most of my childhood, I grew up with both parents. They were poor, with all these kids, but they always found open arms; people took us in.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: In my life, I try to find the finest qualities in people, no matter what they look like.
    • Joaquin Phoenix:(From 2008, on how he doesn't believe he's as good as other actors) I don't think I have any value. I'm always surprised that a director would want me, to be frank. I always think there's someone far more talented and interesting and better looking and taller or smaller than I am.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: (On his new career in music) It's like moving on to greener pastures, you know what I mean? And so, I'm just going to try and like, I'll just be doing the other thing ... Hopefully, I will emotionally impact you with that, as well.
    • Joaquin Phoenix:(On people speculating that his quitting acting and becoming a rapper is an elaborate hoax) There's not a hoax. Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that's possible, but that's certainly not my intention.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: (On the big deal the public made over his decision to retire from acting) I didn't know that anyone was gonna care. I felt that it was an obligation to tell my fans what I was doing, moving in another direction.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: (On how when he looks back on his life one day, music will be the dominant theme) I'm not out to sell records. I'm experiencing something and it's what I feel. I feel like everything in my life is leading up to this and suddenly acting doesn't seem like that's a big part of what was important in my life. I imagine, when I look back on my life, acting will be just a very small portion of something that I did, and I think music will be the dominant theme in my life.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: (On why he chose to retire from acting and get into the music industry in 2009) I've always loved music and never really played anything, and, after Walk The Line, I kind of learned to play guitar and having that sense of performing, that certainly opened the door for me for music. I think now I would just like the music to speak for itself. I don't think we'll ever get to the reason, 'Oh, that's why he quit and this is why he's doing this.' I don't fully understand it myself. I've always followed my heart and felt what was true at the time and that's what I'm doing now.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: (on his change of career directions from actor to rap artist in 2009) This is me saying this is who I am. This is my story. After all the years of reading scripts and reading lines, this is my chance to do something straight from the heart and put it out there. When I was young I liked punk rock music but then I discovered rap. I love the storytelling aspect of hip-hop.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: (revealing his decision to quit acting to concentrate on his music career) I want to take this opportunity to give you the exclusive. This will be my last performance as an actor. I'm not doing films anymore. Yeah. I'm working on my music. I'm done. I've been through that.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: Reese is a true professional, radiating such light and energy into the part she played as June Carter. There was no one more fit for the part.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I would much rather undergo a root canal with no anesthetic than to watch myself on screen, it just gives me a weird feeling. I cannot stop criticizing my moves.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I've made up so many stories about my name, I can't remember.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I began acting when River was doing this TV series and they needed two kids for the show, so they got me and my little sister, Summer, to do it. After that I did some really weird guest spots with orangutans and stuff.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I had a Catholic girlfriend but she wouldn't, uh, share loving.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: Rather than trying to mimic what John did, I really tried to understant why he did what he did... I saw that John used to lift his head with his chin leading up into the air. I thought it was just this kind of little move that he did, but I realized after a while that he was actually taking a breah of air. So I just naturally started lifting my head to breathe.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I just have high expectations. Every time I see a movie I'm in, I go, 'F*** it! That scene was supposed to be good, and it's terrible.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: When I first heard about [To Die For], I thought, what a terrible idea — a teacher seduces this kid and he kills her husband? That's awful.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I don't have the slightest desire to speak about my dead brother. It gets on my nerves to always be compared with him. My brother was a magnificent person and an outstanding actor.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: My significant other right now is myself, which is what happens when you suffer from multiple personality disorder and self-obsession.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I'm not the indie kid, and I'm also not the John Grisham novel hero, but I am all of those things. I do whatever excites me at the time. I'll be in some huge $80 million buddy cop movie, I don't care, and I'll also do some wild independent movie. I refuse to have an agenda.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I don't know why I always get to play these guys who have few redeeming features. But don't knock it. Villains are much more fun.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: As I'm reading a script, I start to see the character. I always seem to do something to my hair. A lot of stuff I do for a part, people don't even notice, but I notice, and it makes the character whole for me.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: The reason I keep making movies is I hate the last thing I did. I'm trying to rectify my wrongs.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: When I go out with the ladies, I don't force them to pronounce my name. I tell them I like to go by the nickname of Kitten.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: There is a fear about celebrity, but I can always go places where nobody is going to bother me. I just don't ever want to be a 'personality.' I want the freedom to try different things.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I'm vomiting days before I start shooting a new movie.
    • Joaquin Phoenix (On his experience of being a firefighter): You're lying in bed sleeping, the gong goes off and your heart starts fucking racing like you wouldn't believe. You throw on your gear, jump on the truck and you're flying down the road so fast that you're shaking.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: I don't walk around like I'm a movie star because I don't think of myself as a movie star. People usually don't even notice me.
    • Joaquin Phoenix: Shooting can be quite exhausting but then comes the moment where you know how it works. Like an electric shock.

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