Lean R.

Catanduanes
III- BSED English A

Sylistic and Discourse Analysis

(Cognate ELE 1)

JOAQUIN PHOENIX

Joaquin Phoenix was born on October 28, 1974, to Arlyn Dunetz and John Bottom in San
Juan, Puerto Rico. His birth name was Joaquin Rafael Bottom. He was the middle child in a
brood of five. His parents used to be followers of a notorious religious cult, but they abandoned
such lives and then turned themselves to be a vegan. So, they travel as missionaries and move
from one country to another. There, Joaquin who had changed his name to Leaf established
careers on acting together with his siblings.

Phoenix began acting at the age of 8. Together with his brother, his first real acting gig was a
guest appearance on River's sitcom, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1982). He and his brother
did splendid performance that Young Artist Awards nominated both of them Best Young Actor
in a Family Film Made for Television in 1985. Though not as good-looking as his brother, it took
a harder path for Leaf to unravel fame. Possessing a natural talent, River was promptly set as the
lead role in some movies unlike him. Not wanting to be left behind, Leaf scored his biggest
movie yet in "Parenthood" (1989). But again his brother's career was many steps ahead. Still
high-spirited, he continued filming his next movie "Walking the Dog" (1991), but it was not that
successful. He decided to change back his name to Joaquin and take a break from acting. He was
ready to act again two years later, but the incident on his brother's death had left him devastated.

However, Joaquin did failed one time but always made sure to stand up two times. Thus, he
finally see the end of the tunnel when he made a breakthrough as he was put in parallel with top
actors. So far his roles improved, to either protagonist or eccentrics. He showed a totally
different ego in "Gladiator" (2000). His portrayal of a villain was so potent and vivid that the
2001 Oscar nominated him for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He even brought home the
Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or
Comedy, a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male
Actor in a Leading Role and another nomination from Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in
a Leading Role in 2006.

Back in early 1990's people might associate 'Phoenix' as River Phoenix. But in 20th Century,
it was always Joaquin Phoenix. After a career of close misses, it was his disturbing performance
in subversive super- villain study Joker that he earned a shelf-full of gold from an industry he
once tried to alienate.