Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara welcome baby ‘River’, named after his late brother

Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara in embrace on the red carpet at the 92nd Academy Awards. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara in embrace on the red carpet at the 92nd Academy Awards. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The couple are celebrating the birth of a baby boy, lovingly named after Phoenix's late brother. 

Hollywood stars Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara have welcomed a baby boy named ‘River’.

The news was announced by director Viktor Kossakovsky at the Zurich Film Festival, while he was promoting his film Gunda, which Phoenix produced.

“He just got a baby, by the way, his name was… a beautiful son called River, so he cannot promote it [the film] now,” said Kossakovsky.

It’s a name that is close to Phoenix’s heart, a tribute to his brother River Phoenix who died of a drug overdose in 1993, at the age of 23.

The couple, who announced their engagement in May 2019, have yet to confirm the baby news. Earlier this year, Mara was spotted with a baby bump and the couple are believed to have spent most of the pregnancy in their California home.

In January of this year, the notoriously-private Phoenix gave a rare interview where he opened up about the death of his brother.

Speaking with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, he talked about how his late brother’s “presence” has been with him throughout his life.

“I feel like in virtually every movie that I made, there was a connection to River in some way,’ he said.

“And I think that we’ve all felt his presence and guidance in our lives in numerous ways.”

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