Joaquin Phoenix Names Newborn Son With After His Late Brother River

Source: Camilla Morandi – Corbis / Getty

Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara recently welcomed their first child together.

Director Victor Kossakovsky is the one who broke the news following a screening of his documentary Gunda at the Zurich Film Festival on Sunday. When someone in the audience asked about the absence of Phoenix–who is an executive producer on the documentary–Kossakovsky spilled the beans.

“He just got a baby, by the way, his name was…a beautiful son named River, so he cannot promote it now,” the director revealed.

Fans immediately got emotional at the news of this new bundle of joy after hearing that the couple gave the baby such a meaningful name.

River was the name of Phoenix’s brother–who was also an actor–who died of a drug overdose in 1993 at the age of 23. Earlier this year, Joaquin, who was 19 at the time, mentioned his late brother towards the end of his Oscars acceptance speech, saying, “When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric, he said, ‘Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow.'”

Recently, Joaquin Phoenix reflected on the bond that he and his brother shared in an interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. The actor said the media’s attention on his brother’s tragic passing really had an emotional effect on their family:

“River was a really substantial actor and movie star, and we didn’t really know it,” he said. “So during that time in which you’re most vulnerable, there are helicopters flying over. There are people that are trying to sneak on to your land. Certainly, for me, it felt like it impeded on the mourning process.”

News that Rooney Mara was pregnant first surfaced back in May. She and Phoenix got engaged last year after three years together. The couple met after working together in the 2013 film Her, starting a friendship before eventually getting together.

Phoenix and Mara also co-starred in two other films together: Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot and Mary Magdalene. The stars are both activists for animal rights and live a healthy vegan lifestyle.

Congratulations to the happy couple and their brand new bundle of joy!