#riverinfilms

River in films: My Own Private Idaho (1991) as Mike Waters // dir. Gus Van Sant 

“River was totally different,” Van Sant continues. “He has this kind of Mozart quality of just burying himself completely in research. He does it through a sort of osmosis; everything you give him feeds into this plant that’s growing out of the information he’s got. He tape-records things, and talks to people; he has his own sources. It’s more tactile: River will create something out of mixed media – film, writing, records, people talking, this whole wild thing. With Keanu, you give him a book, he’ll read the book. River might read part of the book, and if he’s interested he’ll read the whole book. Keanu will read what you give him like you were giving him instructions: he follows them.” 

River in films: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989) as Young Indy // dir. Steven Spielberg

River in films: Silent Tongue (1993) as Talbot Roe // dir. Sam Shepard

“River Phoenix spent a good deal of time working on his performance as the demented, love-crazed Talbot, who won’t leave the dead body of his half-breed wife. He loved working with Shepard. “The first time I met Sam, I felt like we were an uncle and nephew out doing their chores on the farm,” he told the unit publicist. “Without a word spoken, I felt warm and secure and there was an instant trust. I knew it would be a pure experience.” Phoenix hung around with the Kiowa Indians, wore burnt cork on his face, and rumpled his hair with his fists. Every so often he would throw himself to the ground and writhe in the dirt.”

River in films: The Mosquito Coast (1986) as Charlie Fox // dir. Peter Weir  

River in films: Explores (1985) as Wolfgang Müller // dir. Joe Dante 

River in films: I Love You to Death (1990) as Devo Nod // dir. Lawrence Kasdan 

“Tracey Ullman and I clicked especially well.” he says. "We had a really good time. We'd just mouth off and get clever on each other and play word games and stuff. And I learned such a lot during the filming. I mean, the amount of learning experience from this project would probably equal, you know, the sum of all the other films I've done."

One thing Phoenix learned in the extended improvisations director Lawrence Kasdan insisted on was how to make a pizza, while a learning experience of an altogether different sort was provided by a trip where Tracey Ullman and Kevin Kline took him to a pornographic bookstore. "We were in stitches,” River says, "but Kevin got ill in there and we had to take him out." 

River in films: Stand By Me (1986) as Chris Chambers // dir. Rob Reiner  

River in films: Little Nikita (1988) as Jeff Grant // dir. Richard Benjamin