Joaquin Phoenix was born in Puerto Rico in 1974, into a family that already belonged to ‘The Children of God’, a cult led by former pastor David Berg.
His parents, John Bottom and Arlyn Dunetz, followed it through Venezuela, Guatemala, Texas, and Florida, while the organization rejected traditional jobs and forced children to sing in the streets to earn money to eat.
When the family managed to get out, they changed their surname from Bottom to Phoenix, like someone rising from the ashes of something they would rather forget.
But tragedy would touch them again: in 1993, his older brother River, who was already finding success in Hollywood, died at 23 of an overdose.
The entire family took refuge in Costa Rica to grieve in private, away from the cameras.
Today Joaquin has an Oscar for playing the Joker; he portrayed Napoleon Bonaparte and Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.
In his 2020 acceptance speech, he broke down remembering River.
The boy who sang for coins while trapped in a cult ended up becoming one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors.