Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara welcome baby boy River Phoenix

The name is presumably a homage to Joaquin’s late brother River, who died in 1993 at the age of 23

Earlier in May, news about Rooney Mara's pregnancy had surfaced, claiming that she was six months pregnant. While neither she nor partner Joaquin Phoenix ever confirmed the pregnancy, it seems like now they won’t have to, since their baby has reportedly arrived.

According to BuzzFeed, Russian director Viktor Kossakovsky revealed the pair recently welcomed a “beautiful son” during an audience Q&A at the 2020 Zurich Film Festival this weekend.

Ostensibly not realizing how private the couple is about their personal lives, Kossakovsky explained that the Joker actor, who executive-produced Kossakovsky’s animal documentary Gunda, was not available to promote the film because he “just got a baby,” a “beautiful son” named River.

The name is presumably a homage to Phoenix’s late brother River Phoenix, star of films like Stand by Me and My Own Private Idaho, who died in 1993 at the age of 23.

Phoenix, 45, and Mara, 35, first met on the set of Her in 2013 and began dating in 2016 when they reconnected while filming Mary Magdalene.

They starred in two more movies together, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot and a documentary titled Dominion, both released in 2018.

They were believed to have become engaged in May last year when Mara was seen wearing a diamond ring. And in an interview with Vanity Fair in October last year Phoenix said they didn’t find chemistry straight away.

“She’s the only girl I ever looked up on the internet,” the Oscar winner confessed. “We were just friends, email friends. I’d never done that. Never looked up a girl online.”

Nevertheless, congratulations are in order for the couple, and here's hoping we get to see River soon!

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