Actor River Phoenix was probably destined to be a star from the moment he was born. His parents believed in home birth. River, their first of five kids, was born in Madras, Ore., to an audience of family friends.
"He came out to this roar of applause," his mom says. And he's been getting that appreciative feedback ever since.
Later, the family lived in a hut on the beach in Venezuela, and River and his younger sister Rainbow, spent their days singing hymns in the plazas of Caracas.
But by the time River was 11, he and his family were in Los Angeles--where after doing four commercials, River decided to quit the "phony stuff" and do only serious acting. He landed a part in the TV series Seven Brides For Seven Brothers The rest you could call history.
Now a well-established celebrity, River is pretty much publicity-shy. He doesn't exactly want to be fussed over by the press. Or turned into a teen idol. Or picked out as the paparazzi's dream boy. But he's a guy who's really got it goin' on and, like it or not, that makes people interested.
So what is it about him exactly? Well, he's cool, he cares (about people, animals and the whole planet) and--news flash!--he's totally radical as a cowboy, which you'll be able to see for yourself when you catch his soon-to-be-released new movie, The Thing Called Love, a modern-day love story set in the competitive world of Nashville's country music scene.
River stars with Samantha Mathis, Dermot Mulroney and Sandra Bullock, as one of four ambitious and untried young music makers out to follow their fortune and try to make it big in the country capital.
When the four young singer/songwriters paths' collide, it sets in motion an emotional whirlwind that tangles up the strings of all their lives and forces each, for the first time in their lives, to make an honest assessment of their talents and what they're striving for.
Watch for debut film performances by country phenomena Trisha Yearwood (playing herself) and K.T. Oslin, who appears as sort of a "den mother" to the new wave of amateurs who hang around the famous Bluebird Cafe...
And when you see River doing his thing in a cowboy hat, you're definitely gonna feel the thing called love yourself!
© 1993 Petersen Publishing Company
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