One fact becomes clear very quickly: This man is not coincidentally one the best ones young actors in Hollywood. He lives and breathes his job, and this will become clear in the coming months. There will be a huge impact, with three movies coming to theatres very soon. In the middle of September comes ‘Signs’., the new Mystery Thriller of M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense). There, Joaquin helps to investigate, as a younger brother of Mel Gibson, uncanny grain circle phenomena. At the end of October brings Buffalo Soldiers, the first film in which he takes the lead. It plays an American G.I., who is briefly stationed in Stuttgart. A savage, beautiful film. The troop drinks, takes drugs, steals weapons and drive their tanks whilst under the influence. All are so broad that they can barely differentiate the West from East Germany. and Joaquin uses the all-common insanity, in order to entice the daughter of the set forward officer. In November, we see the aforementioned Claire Danes. In ‘Its all About Love’, the two act together in this Thomas Vinterberg celebration.

One could say, then, that Joaquin Phoenix has finally arrived: in the company of wonderful actors, in the consciousness of the public, on the height of his possibilities. The strange thing is that certain stories of his had already been told, as a kind of dark Phoenix Legend. He had to fight. He does not speak about it, about that terrible Halloween night a few years ago, when he himself had to call for an ambulance, as his famous brother River lay dying outside of the Viper Room, poisoned by a deadly drug cocktail. He does not speak of his brother any more. Although they were both actors, River was the blonder one. It was he who got the roles, although there were five Phoenix children, with their pretty Hippie names. River, Rain, Liberty, Summer and Joaquin, who as three-year one renamed himself Leaf.

All kids had the same Agent. The clan held together closely, yet River came before Joaquin and the comparisons continue. Joaquin does not understand this.

You understands his reservations better if you do compares him with River. River gladly played the harmless roles in movies, Joaquin the rebel: Because the offers he received in his teenage years did not please him, he made the conclusion to play about at the age of fifteen, to find himself. Only years after Rivers death, in 1995, was he acknowledged: as the young killer in To Die For, starring Nicole Kidman.

He embodies the crazy desire for love and affection, the vulnerabilty which has propelled so many actors, perfectly in its roles, yet he does not suffer the same problem in his personal life. The most beautiful women, like Liv Tyler, with whom he was together for a long time, purged his love readily.

 If one asks him why there is an obsession with the Phoenix folklore, he laughs and shakes his head. Hippie parents, they gave him Tofu Burger instead of Big Macs, the parents missionaries for a cult in Venezuela. They travelled South America. The kids sang to earn money, almost like the Kelly Family. “Yes, it is true. Everything. But it was also completely normal. We didn’t know any different. It was only when I was interviewed by journalists that I realised my childhood was special”, Joaquin says.

He is still Vegan, wears no leather, as were his brothers and sisters. He also got used to another annoying story - this thing about his intensity.

 The director James Gray wanted him for the role of his character’s best friend.

 “Yes, also that is true”.  Once, before a dramatic scene , Joaquin slammed his head against the wall. “I am considered a crazy headbanger”, he says. The truth is that has a thousand cheats in order to prepare for a scene.

The truth is also, one suspects it, rather clear: This Phoenix is the type to take his work seriously, and wants to convey his roles less simply than the actually are. With more depth.

 And his personality is a pleasant one: a complex, exciting personality. At least as excitingly as his roles