Joaquin Rafael Phoenix was born on October 28th 1974 in
San Juan, Puerto Rico. By the time Joaquin was six, his family had settled in the Los Angeles and Joaquin followed his older brother River Phoenix into the world of acting.

Joaquin's first real acting role was a guest appearance on the sitcom Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982) but his big screen debut came a few years later in the movie SpaceCamp (1986), A year later Joaquin starred in the popular movie Russkies (1987).

Over the next few years, Joaquin's career failed to take off but this was put into perspective by the tragic events on October 31st 1993. when his brother River collapsed and died from a drug overdose and at The Viper Room nightclub in Los Angeles.

After two years of mourning, Joaquin got his life back on track in when he starred alongside Nicole Kidman in the movie To Die For (1995). He followed this with appearances in Inventing the Abbotts (1997), U Turn (1997) and Return to Paradise (1998).

In 2000 Joaquin appeared in the Roman epic Gladiator opposite Russell Crowe. The film was a huge success and Joaquin made the jump from character actor to genuine movie star.

Since then Joaquin has established himself as one of the most in demand young actors in Hollywood with movies such as Signs (2002), The Village (2004) and Walk the Line (2005).