River Phoenix Speaks
Interview with River Phoenix.
“Reprinted from October 1988
River Phoenix Speaks
LA Youth reporter Greg Mooradian interviewed actor River Phoenix in the fall of 1988. At 18, he had already appeared in six major films, including “Stand By Me” and “Mosquito Coast.” He later died of a drug overdose.
Question: You spent much of your childhood in South America, and your family has moved some 40 times in the past 20 years. When and where did you have the opportunity to be trained as an actor?
Answer: I’ve trained myself through experience. Acting school for me has been working on the sets of different films, and I’ve basically learned through trial and error.
Question: What do you most clearly remember about your time in South America, and what do you feel you learned from that experience?
Answer: I remember living in colonies, sharing my life with a lot of people, going to plazas and singing with my sisters to hundreds, sometimes a thousand people… We were putting out a message that changed their lives in some way.
Question: Where do you see yourself five or ten years down the road?
Answer: Whatever I’m doing, I hope it isn’t a selfish involvement. I’d like to put together a volunteer group that would tour high schools and give seminars about subjects the education system won’t teach, information that people should be exposed to so they can start deciding what’s right and wrong.”