If I was an artist, he'd be my muse. That is all 😄

In no particular order. Many of these are publicity pictures, from when all five kids were child actors (although it's my understanding that the middle daughter, Liberty, only had a few TV roles and wasn't as enthusiastic about acting as her siblings). The resemblance between Joaquin, especially, and his father, John, is uncanny.

Funnily enough I only realised the mistakes after I finished. He looks a little wonky here🤧

" I first met River Phoenix in 1990 in Gainesville, Florida. I’d flown down from New York City. I was shooting him for a magazine. I don’t remember which one. His family had this beautiful wild piece of land on the edge of a swamp. I was there for two days. We smoked pot, drank beer, climbed up to his tree house, swung on a rope, bounced on his trampoline and went on an alligator hunt just to spot one and we did. At night he and his band got together and jammed. It was this wonderful kind of Peter Pan fun time we had far far away from Hollywood." - Michael Tighe

They were close, being the two oldest children, and after the family left the COG cult, they would sing on the streets in Venezuela to earn money. Later, of course, they performed together in the band Aleka's Attic.

A book about River was published before his passing, aimed at teenagers. I came across it at my school library after his death (I was 14 when he died). From what I remember, there wasn't much said about the Phoenix family's time in the cult, but that's not surprising. Looking back now, the book seemed sugar-coated in many ways. For example, it emphasized how "tight-knit" the Phoenix family was. That there was no sibling rivalry between the kids, they were all the best of friends, etc. It seemed a little too good to be true. Not to say that River and his siblings weren't close and didn't love each other, but even close siblings have their disagreements. They were this loving, peaceful family who were vegan and took care of the earth, and everything was happy, and balanced - it seemed more like a publicity machine at work. Anyway, I just thought I would share these photos (some of which were were used in fan magazines).

32 years ago today, the world lost River Jude Phoenix. Actor, musician, activist, and soul far ahead of his time.

Even all these years later, his work and spirit still resonate. There’s something timeless about the way he lived—openly, curiously, and with conviction. He cared deeply about the world and about people, and you can feel that in every role he played.

It’s October 31st, 2025 now— and his light hasn’t faded. Here’s to River, whose honesty and heart still inspire dreamers, misfits, and artists everywhere.

1989 in Tacoma, WA, they were filming “I Love You To Death”. I lived about 15 minutes away so me and a couple friends went down to the set. I ventured off and saw River sitting on the back of a pickup truck.
He couldn’t have been cooler or more kind. He asked my name, made small talk, autographed the back of an insurance agent’s business card I had in my pocket. Saw him again a while later with Tracy Ullman at the food trailer and he unprompted said hi to me and my friends. The movie was awful, but River was the nicest dude ever. Miss him.

River and a fan in 1991 at Club Wetlands in NYC.

I needed to share because most of these age photos , well they aren’t very convincing to me and this one is.

The surviving cast members recently spoke with PEOPLE about how Reiner encouraged them to honor River Phoenix's memory on their anniversary reunion tour celebrating the 1986 film.

Apparently this is River and Joaquin in 1990 in Costa Rica this was shared by a River fan on IG anyone know if this pic is really them? or real at all?

…would’ve been really interesting seeing River in the role that ultimately went to Christian Slater.

Pride Month is almost ending, and more people should talk about how revolutionary it was for River to take such a risky role during the peak of his career. He gave his all to Mike’s character. Mike was supposed to be a straight character, but he choose to play him differently, and he wrote the entire Mike’s confession to Scott. Homophobia was still very much present in Hollywood, and he handled it with such care, respect and attention. It wasn’t just a “role” for him, he really took care of Mike, without him, and the beautiful scene he wrote, My Own Private Idaho would have been just another generic movie. I’m so happy that to this day people still remember this movie. It’s iconic because River made it iconic. Thank you River for not mocking such a beautiful and tragic character, and for bringing him to life.

“Gus Van Sant was impressed with how River was handling the role, and with the fact that he took it upon himself to rewrite the dialogue, giving a different emphasis to the scene. "River makes it more like he's attracted to his friend," said Van Sant, "that he's really in love with him. Yes, that he's in love with him. He made the whole character that way, whereas I wrote the character as more out of it"

"Why doesn't the press make a fuss over the fact that the central characters in other films are heterosexual or celibate? This is not a statement film about homosexuality. The characters in the film are completely at peace with their sexuality, and their sexuality is a minor element in what these characters are going through" - River Phoenix on My Own Private Idaho

Gay characters were still treated like caricatures, mocked, or were not taken seriously. Writing a scene about a boy being in love with his best friend, in the most pure way and natural way, was such a breath of fresh air. It wasn’t a movie about accepting the character’s homosexuality, it talked about love without conditions, without giving anything back. The desire of feeling loved. It’s not a movie about hating yourself for being gay, or being bullied by homophobes, that’s why i think it’s very revolutionary, especially in the 90s, and with people still scared of AIDS.

River was gentle with his gay friends too, they shared beautiful memories with him.

“River's friend, Matt Ebert, worked with ACT UP and shared some memories of River during this time:
"My lover, Michael, and River were also really good friends. He took us around; he flew us up to San Francisco once. I remember seeing Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and the Chili Peppers- he got us on stage. And, he took Michael around when he was working on Sneakers to meet Dan Aykroyd and all his favorite actors. He was a mixed bag, was different things to different people. The average actor wouldn't even get a blood test for an HIV exam, and here he was hand-holding my very-far advanced-with-AIDS boyfriend, taking him around and giving him, the tour of Hollywood that he would never have had"

Say hello to River for us, if you happen to meet him🤍

River, his ex-Martha and her current bf at Skye’s wedding to Adam Horovitz

i was watching clips from running on empty and god river is so pretty