River Phoenix quotes

"Run to the rescue with love,

“I think it’s very important for the gay community to have random characters that represent nothing more than people… I think it’s part of a wave that will set a precedent of some sort so that you will no longer need a label.”

“I can’t really explain why I understand what I understand, I just do. And to try and figure it out would kind of ruin it. I want to leave it like a mine of gold, without ever mining it and selling it; I don’t want to sell it off. I don’t want to talk about, I don’t want to understand it in a way that will exploit the pureness, so I just leave it. I don’t understand it but i believe it.”

It was an opportunity to cement the relationship they had begun on I Love You To Death. In later interviews, Keanu described River as his best friend, and the two joked about playing Romeo and Juliet together (with Phoenix as Juliet). “They were pretty close,” Van Sant said. “They have a lot of things in common. They made a good twosome, they have a shared background. They were of similar ages and they were both champion young actors.

“In the pantheon of gay male icons, of traditional gay male icons, I think River Phoenix really stands apart. And it’s very interesting, insofar as he’s not as messed up by the closet, isn’t as dependent on the closet as Montgomery Clift, or James Dean, or countless others, right? There was a certain outness about River Phoenix. Whatever his sexuality might have been, he did not mind being read, quoted, and performing queer”

Honest and refreshingly unspoiled by all the trappings of stardom despite his meteoric career, Hollywood’s hottest teenage property may be slightly embarrassed by his sudden entrance into the lifestyle of the rich and famous-entirely understandable, when one learns of a childhood spent roaming the poorer streets of South America with his missionary parents. But if the glitz of showbiz is less alluring to Phoenix than a night with pals at the local burger stand, the serious business of making movies is another matter altogether.

River was a self-admitted quick-change artist. “I have a lot of chameleon qualities,” he once said. “I get very absorbed in my surroundings.” This may be a clue to his untimely demise. Some time earlier, he told a reporter that working on The Mosquito Coast had a powerful impact on him. “It was the first time I really escaped from myself and became another character,” he said. “I have to be careful what movies I take on…” because, of course, that ability to become part of his surroundings had its dark side..

But I feel that when you’re born into a way of life—and that’s all you know—you don’t mind it. The good times and the bad are all part of the experience.

6 p.m, October 30, 1993: Sluizer wrapped the Dark Blood shoot for the day. River lingered for about half an hour, hanging out and helping the crew take down the lights. Lachman had grown accustomed to River volunteering: a week before, in New Mexico, the cinematographer had been schlepping a large nun of equipment cases out of his hotel room. He came out into the hallway and shouted, “Can anyone help me with my gear?” A minute later, River knocked on his door. “River, what are you doing here?” Lachman asked. “I came to help you.” River said simply, proposing to violate both union rules and the star-power hierarchy of a movie shoot. “I didn’t mean you!” Lachman said. “Why can’t I help ya?” River asked.

What I remember about River is him being a very beautiful, caring, sweet and kind young man. It was a privilege to meet this very special family.

When I was starting, the two guys you wanted to model yourself on were River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke.

‘It was great therapy.’ We had lots of fun in Portland. After a hard day’s work, to be able to jam and fall asleep playing your instrument is the best.

Despite River’s strong protest against stardom, he remains at the top. It has already been predicted that when he gives up his crown as today’s most popular teen hero and heartthrob, he will continue to shine as one of tomorrow’s biggest and brightest stars.

He was born, hard to believe, 45 years ago today, in Madras, Oregon, which later became a setting for the dreamy, disoriented roadside flashbacks in My Own Private Idaho. He was given the name River Jude; River for Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, Jude for “Hey Jude.” His last name then was Bottom. So, yes … River Bottom. His siblings were Rain, Liberty, Summer, and Joaquin. His parents, fruit pickers and missionaries, took the family to Venezuela where they sang on the street for money; only after splitting from the Children of God movement and stowing away on a cargo ship to Florida did they change their surname to Phoenix, after the Ancient Egyptian symbol of rebirth. Later, in Los Angeles, in a somewhat more settled-down life but still singing on street corners, young River was discovered, cast in commercials and films, eventually Stand By Me, where his performance as Chris Chambers first marked him as one of the most talented and promising actors in Hollywood.

River actually took it one step further. He insisted we eliminate cheese, eggs and milk from our diets. He is a sensitive child. He cannot tolerate the slightest form of abuse.