Joaquin calls baby son River
Emotional tribute to his late brother
Joaquin Phoenix, 45, and his fiancée Rooney Mara, 35, have welcomed a baby boy into the world. The news came as a great surprise, as neither actor had announced that they were expecting a baby, but filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky revealed the news at the Zurich Film Festival. Promoting a film called Gunda – for which Joaquin is the executive producer – the director let slip that Joaquin couldn’t be there because he was looking after his son. “He just got a baby, by the way, his name was… a beautiful son called River, so he cannot promote it now,” Victor said during a Q&A for the film.
The couple have chosen the name River in honour of Joaquin’s late brother, who died from a drug overdose in 1993 outside Hollywood club The Viper Room. Joaquin was with his brother at the time. River, who was four years older than Joaquin, was best known for his performances in Stand By Me, My Own Private Idaho and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, and was a massive heartthrob around the world.
When Joaquin won the Best Actor Oscar for Joker earlier this year, he paid homage to River, saying, “When he was 17, my brother [River] wrote this lyric. He said, ‘Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow…’”
He also recently discussed his brother’s legacy, revealing that it was River showing him the film Raging Bull that made Joaquin want to become an actor. “I think it just… awakened something in me and I could suddenly see it through his eyes,” he said in a recent interview.
Joaquin went on to say, “I feel like in virtually every movie that I made, there was a connection to River in some way. And I think that we’ve all felt his presence and guidance in our lives in numerous ways.”
Joaquin met Rooney on the set of the 2013 film Her, but they were first romantically linked in 2016. Rooney was spotted out with an engagement ring in May 2019, and it’s thought she gave birth to their son around a month ago.
Congrats, you two.