Joaquin Phoenix is an American actor with an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award to his credit. He is known for predominantly portraying character roles, especially conflicted and insecure ones with a dark side. He has also stated on several occasions that he has not watched any of his performances on screen. Phoenix is also popularly known as Leaf Phoenix. Born on October 28, 1974, at San Juan, Puerto Rico, Joaquin Phoenix was the third of the five children of John Lee Bottom and Arlyn Sharon Dunetz. He is said to have been born with a scar on his upper lip, a condition which is medically termed as 'microform cleft'. All the five siblings were child artists. River Phoenix, the famous actor-brother of Joaquin, succumbed at the age of 23 to a drug overdose. Joaquin has three sisters, all of whom are actors. As a child actor, Joaquin made guest appearances in 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' in 1980 and 'Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia' in 1984. His first starring role on the big screen came in 1987 with 'Russkies'. Joaquin has earned lots of acclaims and accolades for essaying roles such as that of the cruel Roman emperor Commodus in 'Gladiator'; a priest in 'Quills'; a baseball player and a love-struck farmer in M. Night Shyamalan's 'Signs' and 'The Village', respectively. He plays the role of Johnny Cash in 'Walk the Line' for which he won an Oscar nomination for Best Actor as well as a Golden Globe award. Joaquin Phoenix is said to have started directing music videos for several bands including Ringside, She Wants Revenge, and People in Planes. Phoenix is also a supporter of animal rights and a member of PETA. He narrated the movie 'Earthlings' on behalf of the animal welfare organization.