Joaquin Phoenix has sparked rumors that he may have quietly exchanged vows with him Rooney Mara.

During the Sunday, September 29th episode of the “Talk Easy” podcast, hosted by the author and filmmaker Sam FragosoPhoenix, 49, referred to Mara, 39, as his “wife.”

Phoenix and Fragoso had discussed Phoenix’s 2020 Best Actor Oscar acceptance speech for his work in 2019 joker When Phoenix revealed that he found the inspiration for his words through “conversations with my mother and my wife.”

The Joker: Folie à Deux The actor then explained how he prepared his acceptance speech should he win the Oscar, referencing Mara, who announced on February 29, using her first name, that she was expecting the couple’s second child.

Related: Timeline of Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix’s relationship

Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix have kept their romance relatively private since they first linked in 2016, but their flame still burns bright. The Joker star and his fiancée first crossed paths on the set of Spike Jonze’s film Her. from 2012. Looking back on his first interactions with Mara, who played his ex-wife (…)

“Rooney was like, ‘You should say that,'” Phoenix told Fragoso.

The couple, who share son River, born in 2020, got engaged in July 2019. The couple dated for several years after meeting again on the set of 2018 Mary Magdalene where Mara played the title character of the film alongside Phoenix, who portrayed Jesus. Mara and Phoenix appeared together in the 2013 film Heralthough it is unclear when they first met.

Phoenix told Vanity Fair In an interview published on October 1, 2019 and reprinted in the magazine’s November 2019 issue, he stated that he believed Mara “despised” him during their time together on set. Her. He told the outlet that he later realized Mara was “just shy” and liked him.

“She’s the only girl I’ve ever searched for on the internet,” he told the outlet. “We were just friends, email friends. I had never done that before. I’ve never looked for a girl online before.”

Fast forward to 2024 and a source said so Us weekly exclusively in February that the couple was “overjoyed” to welcome a second child into their family.

Related: Celebrity parents who named their child River: Kelly Clarkson and more

Although River seems like an unusual baby name, it has become very popular in Hollywood. When Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara welcomed their first child in September 2020, the couple decided to name their son River to honor the Oscar winner’s late brother, River Phoenix, who died in 1993 at the age of 23 Drug died (…)

“Rooney and Joaquin love being parents,” a source said Us at the time. “They are a team and are really enjoying this journey together.”

Mara showed off her baby bump at the premiere of the Berlin International Film Festival. La Cocina on Feb. 16 while posing for photos on the event’s red carpet.

From the couple’s first child, River, whose name commemorates Phoenix’s late brother, Phoenix Riversaid a source Us in May 2021 that the youngster has changed the couple’s life.

“River has enriched their lives more than they ever imagined and has brought them closer,” the source said at the time. “They are a very private couple and want River to have a normal, healthy upbringing.”