Joaquin Phoenix was born in Puerto Rico in 1974 and raised in Los Angeles and Florida. He began acting in television series in the 1980s. He was in the news even before he became a star as the brother of River Phoenix, the charismatic actor who died of a drug overdose in 1993.
Though Phoenix appeared in a number of movies in the 1990s, including “To Die For” with Nicole Kidman, his breakout role was playing Commodus in the 2000 Ridley Scott epic “Gladiator.” He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role in the film, which also won Best Picture honors). (These are the Oscar winners for Best Picture the year you were born.)
Phoenix earned more Oscar nominations for playing Johnny Cash in the biopic “Walk the Line” and a damaged war veteran in “The Master,” and eventually won the Oscar for playing the title role in “Joker.”
Click here to see Joaquin Phoenix’s best movies
The ranking is based on an index of IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings. IMDb is an online movie database owned by Amazon. Rotten Tomatoes is an online movie and TV review aggregator. Only the roughly 5,000 feature films with 25,000 reviews or more on IMDb were considered for this analysis. Each movie’s domestic box office was obtained from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by consulting firm Nash Information Services.
In addition to performing, Phoenix is a social activist and supports organizations such as Amnesty International and the Peace Alliance. He is also a vegan and an animal rights advocate and member of PETA.
What’s next for the actor? Phoenix stars in a drama called “C’mon C’mon,” to be released later this year or in 2022. Can’t wait to get back to the movies to see this and other forthcoming films? See if your state makes our list: COVID-19: States Doing the Best in the Race to Roll Out Vaccines.)
24/7 Tempo has assembled a list of Joaquin Phoenix’s 19 best movie performances, based on an index of IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings.
19. 8MM (1999)
> Fellow leads: Nicolas Cage, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare
> Director: Joel Schumacher
> Domestic box office: $36.44 million
Phoenix has a supporting role in “8MM,” playing Max California, a video store employee who helps a PI (Nicholas Cage) investigate the world of snuff films. The film got negative reviews but was a box office success.
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18. Irrational Man (2015)
> Fellow leads: Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Joe Stapleton
> Director: Woody Allen
> Domestic box office: $4.03 million
In this Woody Allen film, Phoenix plays Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor who is having an existential crisis. The story explores his relationships with a fellow professor and a student.
17. The Village (2004)
> Fellow leads: Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Bryce Dallas Howard
> Director: M. Night Shyamalan
> Domestic box office: $114.20 million
Phoenix stars in this film about a 19th-century Pennsylvania village whose inhabitants live in fear of nameless creatures in the nearby woods, referred to as “Those We Don’t Speak Of.”
16. Brother Bear (2003)
> Fellow leads: Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, Jason Raize
> Director: Aaron Blaise
> Domestic box office: $85.34 million
“Brother Bear” is an animated comedy-drama film from Disney. Joaquin Phoenix voices Kenai, an Inuit boy who pursues a bear after his brother is killed.
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15. We Own the Night (2007)
> Fellow leads: Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Danny Hoch
> Director: James Gray
> Domestic box office: $28.56 million
In “We Own the Night” Phoenix plays Bobby Green, the manager of a Brighton Beach nightclub frequented by mobsters. Complicating things, his father and brother are senior officers in the New York Police Department.
14. Ladder 49 (2004)
> Fellow leads: John Travolta, Jacinda Barrett, Robert Patrick
> Director: Jay Russell
> Domestic box office: $74.54 million
“Ladder 49” is about a hero firefighter, played by Phoenix, who is trapped in a burning warehouse. It tells his story in a series of flashbacks while his colleagues try to rescue him.
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13. Inherent Vice (2014)
> Fellow leads: Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston
> Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
> Domestic box office: $8.11 million
Paul Thomas Anderson directed Phoenix stars in this adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel. It got generally good reviews despite a very complicated plot, but didn’t perform well at the box office.
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12. Signs (2002)
> Fellow leads: Mel Gibson, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin
> Director: M. Night Shyamalan
> Domestic box office: $227.97 million
“Signs” is a science fiction mystery thriller film about a farmer, played by Mel Gibson, who discovers crop circles that signal an impending alien invasion. Phoenix plays his brother, a failed minor league baseball player.
11. The Immigrant (2013)
> Fellow leads: Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner, Dagmara Dominczyk
> Director: James Gray
> Domestic box office: $2.01 million
This is the complex story of Bruno, a Jewish hustler played by Phoenix, and his relationship with two Polish Catholic sisters who come to New York in the 1920s.
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10. Two Lovers (2008)
> Fellow leads: Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Anne Joyce
> Director: James Gray
> Domestic box office: $3.15 million
“Two Lovers” is a romantic drama inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s short story “White Nights.” Set in a Jewish neighborhood in Brighton Beach, it’s tabout a suicidal man, played by Phoenix, and his relationships with two women.
9. The Master (2012)
> Fellow leads: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons
> Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
> Domestic box office: $16.25 million
In “The Master” Phoenix plays a damaged World War II veteran who joins up with the leader of a religious movement known as “The Cause.”
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8. You Were Never Really Here (2017)
> Fellow leads: Judith Roberts, Ekaterina Samsonov, John Doman
> Director: Lynne Ramsay
> Domestic box office: $2.52 million
In this psychological thriller, Phoenix plays a traumatized mercenary named Joe, who is hired by a politician to find and rescue his kidnapped daughter.
7. To Die For (1995)
> Fellow leads: Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Casey Affleck
> Director: Gus Van Sant
> Domestic box office: $21.28 million
“To Die For” is a black comedy crime film about an overly ambitious broadcast journalist, played by Nicole Kidman, who seduces a teenager, played by Phoenix, and gets him and his friends to murder her husband.
6. Quills (2000)
> Fellow leads: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Michael Caine
> Director: Philip Kaufman
> Domestic box office: $7.06 million
“Quills” is a period drama about the incarceration of the Marquis de Sade in an insane asylum run by the Abbé de Coulmier, played by Phoenix.
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5. Joker (2019)
> Fellow leads: Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy
> Director: Todd Phillips
> Domestic box office: $335.45 million
This film stars Phoenix as the DC Comics supervillain known as the Joker, familiar as a foe of Batman, and gives him an alternative origin story. Phoenix won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the part, just as Heath Ledger did for playing the role in 2009.
4. Walk the Line (2005)
> Fellow leads: Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick
> Director: James Mangold
> Domestic box office: $119.52 million
“Walk the Line” is a biopic about singer Johnny Cash, played by Phoenix, and his relationship with June Carter, played by Reese Witherspoon. Phoenix was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.
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3. Gladiator (2000)
> Fellow leads: Russell Crowe, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
> Director: Ridley Scott
> Domestic box office: $187.68 million
The name says it all. “Gladiator” is an epic set in ancient Rome. Russell Crowe plays the lead role and Phoenix plays the villainous Commodus. This was his breakout role, earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor
2. Her (2013)
> Fellow leads: Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara
> Director: Spike Jonze
> Domestic box office: $25.57 million
In “Her,” Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with a virtual assistant called Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
1. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
> Fellow leads: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Xolani Mali
> Director: Terry George
> Domestic box office: $23.52 million
Phoenix has a small role as news cameraman Jack Daglish in this film about a big subject — the Rwandan genocide.
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