Phoenix, Joaquin Raphael (1974– )

US actor. He starred in a variety of independent and mainstream Hollywood films from the age of 12, making his adult breakthrough in the blockbuster Gladiator (2000), opposite Russell Crowe. He received wide critical praise for his role as Johnny Cash in the 2005 biopic Walk the Line. Other films include the gritty drama The Yards (2000), the historical drama Quills (2000), M Night Shyamalan thrillers Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), and the war drama Hotel Rwanda (2004). He is the younger brother of actor River Phoenix.

He began his career under the name Leaf Phoenix. After appearing as an angst-ridden adolescent in the Steve Martin comedy Parenthood (1989), he took a break from acting, travelling to Mexico with his father. After his brother River's death in 1993, he began acting again, appearing alongside Nicole Kidman in the drama To Die For (1995). After Parenthood, he played a number of lonely and isolated characters, such as a scapegoat sentenced to death in Return to Paradise (1998) and a store clerk caught up in a murder mystery in 8 mm (1999).

He was born in Puerto Rico, the middle of five children born to US missionaries. After travelling through Central and South America, the family settled in Los Angeles, California, when he was six. As Leaf Phoenix he appeared in several television roles before making his feature film debut in the comedy SpaceCamp (1986).