River Phoenix

Vintage Pez promotional pack for the VHS release of ‘Stand By Me’ (1986)

<3

“When I was younger, I was dressed up like a model, told to pose in certain ways; to tilt my head, push my lips out, suck in my cheeks. And I’d be tired at the end of the day so I’d just give the damned photographer what he wanted. It was the most mortifying experience. And the photographs were the ugliest, the most contrived… it wasn’t me. Then all the outtakes that you never want to see again in your life go through the teen magazines forever.” [River Phoenix]

- Sian Phillips

“I remember Kiefer [Sutherland, in an early scene in the movie] grabs River and throws him to the ground, holding a cigarette in his face. But Kiefer wasn’t really getting the front of that cigarette close, so River said, ‘Just put it right in there. I trust you … I want to use the fear of it.’ I remember thinking that was like a really mature and bold and risky thing to do as an actor.“ - Wil Wheaton, 2016.

Running on empty [1988, Sidney Lumet]

Cinematographer: John J. Campbell & Eric Alan Edwards

Rio 💖

River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton photographed by Ron Galella at the Fourth Annual American Cinematheque Award Honoring Steven Spielberg, 1989