News culture Almost impossible to recognize! 40 years ago, this global star made his breakthrough in a science fiction film before becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest villains
There are many in Hollywood who have been thrust into the limelight early. So early, in fact, that they are simply unrecognizable in their first film. This is the case with Joaquin Phoenix, for example…
On the way to the stars, the first attempt
In 1986, Heading for the Stars was released, known to our English-speaking friends as SpaceCamp. This American film by Harry Winer tells the story of a space shuttle in danger: the problem is that it is piloted and manned by inexperienced young people who happened to be on the spaceship. And if you haven’t heard much about this feature film, there’s a good reason for that. : It was published five months after the space shuttle Challenger accident.
This was a real drama and a social phenomenon across the Atlantic and only hindered the potential success of the film, which grossed less than 10 million US dollars at the American box office. The music was by John Williams and we also found some familiar faces like Kate Capshaw (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), Lea Thompson (Red Dawn, Back to the Future), Kelly Preston (A Best Friend), Larry B. Scott (Karate Kid). … and Joaquin Phoenix.
Flight in the truest sense of the word
This was actually Joaquin Phoenix’s very first cinematic appearance: he is then only one child And given its commercial failure, very few remember it. Besides, it’s always fun to come across photos from the film. The following year he made another film, the little-known Russkies, and in 1989, Spitting Portrait of a Model Family.
It was mainly the 90s that allowed him to start his career more seriously: he appeared, for example, in “Loin du Paradis” in 1998 and in “8 Millimeters” with Nicolas Cage in 1999 … before exploding completely in 2000 with “Gladiator”, in which he plays the role of one of the most famous antagonists in cinema. We know the rest: highly regarded performances in dozens of films, an Oscar for Best Actor for Joker, and a career that is far from over. Hats off to the artist!
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