40 years later, this little boy has become one of the greatest villains in cinema: did you know him?

On January 28, 1986, the American people were shocked when the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members instantly.

So four months later, when Harry Winer’s SpaceCamp, an adventure film about four teenagers who take part in a NASA program and eventually become astronauts, came out, no one wanted to know about rockets or astronauts or even NASA, and the film, with a $25 million budget, took off entirely at the box office. It failed and only 9.7 million came in.

The beginning of a certain Leaf Phoenix

The shoot itself was an absolute disaster: as Leah Thompson (Back to the Future), who also stars in the film, revealed years later, by the end of the first day, they were already ten days late and three overdue. The shooting lasted six months. The entire cast of the film was desperate: Keith Capshaw (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), Tom Skerritt (Alien, Top Gun), Tate Donovan (Argo, Manchester by the Sea) and also a young man named Leaf Phoenix.

“Leaf” comes from his middle name, Raphael. Over the years we will call him more by his name: Joaquin. His brother River was already a big (minor) star, and the doors of Hollywood quickly opened for him, even if it was only in minor roles. space camp It was his second feature film after The Children Don’t Tell Me and several television series. Little did he know that 15 years later he would be nominated for an Oscar for his role in Gladiator, then, after two more nominations, he would receive the prestigious award in 2020 for his role as the antagonist of the legendary Batman in Todd Phillips’ Joker.

Unfortunately, River Phoenix He did not see his brother’s success: he died in 1993 at the age of 23, leaving behind the legendary roles he played in the films “My Private Idaho”, “Indiana Jones” and “The Last Crusade or Stand by Me”.

as for Joaquin Phoenix, continues its small (long) way. We’ll soon find him in the Joker again in the sequel Joker: Folie à Deux with Lady Gaga, which hits theaters on October 2, 2024.

Meanwhile, Joker (2019) is still available on Prime Video and Max.

A similar article has already been published on our Spanish site Sensacine.com.