Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix are parents to a “beautiful” baby boy, according to director Victor Kossakovsky.
The filmmaker shared the happy news with the audience at a Zurich Film Festival screening of Gunda – a film that Joaquin produced. Victor also shared the name that the couple gave their son: River, likely in honor of Joaquin’s late brother.
Back in May, news broke that Rooney and Joaquin were expecting their first child together. According to Page Six, Rooney was already six months along at the time, just quietly quarantining in their Los Angeles home. At the time, there were also rumors going around that the couple, who have been romantically linked since 2016, had gotten engaged.
River Phoenix was Joaquin’s older brother – they started acting at around the same time. River died of an overdose in 1993 at just 23 years old. He was known for films like Stand by Me and My Own Private Idaho, and was also a musician and Oscar-nominated actor.
Joaquin paid tribute to his brother when he won Best Actor at the 2020 Oscars, quoting the late actor in his emotional speech. “When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, ‘Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow,'” he shared. He got a standing ovation from the audience.
