Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara have welcomed their first child together, a baby boy that the pair have named River after Joaquin's late brother.
News of the baby's arrival was confirmed by Victor Kossakovsky, the director of Gunda. Joaquin served as a co-producer of the film. Victor spoke recently at the Zurich Film Festival, which is currently taking place. During his speech, he noted, " I wish him and @rooney.mara all the best and lots of fun with her first son River!"
Both Joaquin and Rooney are famously private, and the couple have yet to officially confirm the arrival of their son. The news that Joaquin opted to name his son after his late brother definitely has parts of the internet feeling emotional. River died on October 31, 1993, at the age of 23. Joaquin was with River at the Viper Club in Los Angeles when he died. Joaquin was only 18 at the time of his brother's death.
Joaquin hasn't spoken often about his brother's life and death, but when he's chosen to, his words have had a great impact. He once told Anderson Cooper that River knew Joaquin would be more successful than he had been.
"River Phoenix comes back after shooting some film and sits him down and is like, 'You're going to be a more successful actor than I am, you're going to be better known than I am.'"
River was born in August 1970 in Madras, Oregon. He and his siblings were raised without any formal education, and the family joined a cult in 1973. After living in Venezuela for years, the family moved back to the US in 1980 and River began getting work in commercials. River quickly became popular, and proved his innate skill as an actor early on.
Joaquin also told Anderson Cooper that his family was "were so removed from the entertainment world" at the time of his brother's death that the sudden attention really rattled them. "River was a really substantial actor and movie star, and we didn't really know it. So during that time in which you're most vulnerable, there are helicopters flying over. There are people that are trying to sneak onto your land. Certainly, for me, it felt like it impeded on the mourning process, right?"
Joaquin also shared that he still feels connected to his brother through his work. "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 and Rooney definitely had a slow courtship. The pair met in 2012 on the set of Her, and quickly became "email friends." But Joaquin was pretty interested in Rooney from the beginning, and told Vanity Fair that "She's the only girl I ever looked up on the internet. We were just friends, email friends. I'd never done that. Never looked up a girl online."
The pair reunited in 2016 when they filmed Mary Magdalene together, and reportedly began dating soon after the film wrapped. The couple seemingly confirmed their relationship in 2017, when they attended the Cannes Film Festival together. Rooney and Joaquin confirmed their engagement in 2019.
Sources first reported that Joaquin and Rooney were expecting a child together in May 2020, though the couple never confirmed the news themselves. The pair haven't been spotted out throughout the ongoing health crisis, though it's likely they were being extra cautious given their own personal circumstances.
