- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Joaquin Phoenix was moved to tears Sunday night as he accepted his Oscar for best actor in Joker, a moment that was highlighted when the actor quoted his late brother, River. “Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow,” Phoenix said in closing, a lyric of River’s, who was also a talented musician, forming the band Aleka’s Attic. His sister, Rain, was also a member.
River never played a superhero (although he was young Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade) nor a supervillain, but there still was a Batman connection to the young actor decades before his brother would win an Oscar for playing The Joker.
It turns out that the 1960s Batman series starring Adam West was River’s favorite show and one of the few he watched in his youth.
In a video unearth by The Hollywood Reporter, River makes the comments while attending the premiere for 1989’s Batman, in which Jack Nicholson played The Joker.
“My expectations are very simple: I am hoping to walk out of this place and enjoy what I’ve seen,” River told reporters on the red carpet. “I hope it carries on the great memories I have of the early show.”
He added, “I grew up with it. It was one of the only shows I ever watched.”
River died of an overdose in October 1993, but was a star in his own right before his untimely passing, even being nominated for an Oscar for his work in 1988’s Running on Empty.
Watch Joaquin’s speech and River’s interview below.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day