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Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix "welcome baby son called River"

Photo credit: Amy Sussman - Getty Images
Photo credit: Amy Sussman - Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

Congratulations are in order for Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix who have welcomed a baby son, according to reports. In a sweet tribute to Joaquin’s late brother, the couple have apparently named their child River.

Film director Victor Kossakovy revealed the news during a Q&A at the Zurich Film Festival while promoting new film Gunda, for which Phoenix is executive producer. Apologising for the actor not being there, Mr Kossakovsky said: "He just had a baby, by the way, his name was... a beautiful son called River, so he cannot promote [the film] right now."

River was the name of Joaquin’s late brother, who died at the age of 23. The late actor had been performing at Hollywood club The Viper Room with friends including Johnny Depp when he overdosed in the early hours of 31 October 1993.

Speaking about his brother in a 60 Minutes interview, Joaquin said: "I feel like in virtually every movie that I made, there was a connection to River in some way. And I think that we've all felt his presence and guidance in our lives in numerous ways."

Photo credit: Archive Photos - Getty Images
Photo credit: Archive Photos - Getty Images

Mara and Phoenix first met on the set of Her in 2013. Phoenix told Vanity Fair that "she’s the only girl I ever looked up on the internet". He continued: "We were just friends, email friends. I’d never done that. Never looked up a girl online." Per the publication, he "believed Mara despised him during the making of Her but later learned she was just shy and actually liked him too".

They were later reunited in 2018 on the set of the film Mary Magdalene, in which Phoenix played Jesus and Mara starred as Mary Magdalene, and started dating shortly after the film wrapped. They confirmed their engagement in May last year.

Since the close of awards season this year, when Phoenix won several awards for his role in Joker, the couple has kept a relatively low profile, with the two reportedly staying home in Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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