Joaquin Phoenix sparks marriage rumours with one word

Joaquin Phoenix has publicly referred to his longtime partner Rooney Mara as his "wife" for the first time. 

The actor candidly discussed his 2020 Oscars acceptance speech on a podcast when he made the comment, quickly sparking marriage rumours.

Speaking on Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso, the star revealed the inspiration behind his emotive speech came to him while he "was talking with my mum and my wife."

Phoenix, 49 and Mara, 39, haven't previously announced they tied the knot. 

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During the interview, Phoenix also discussed his speech following his Best Actor win at the 2020 Academy Awards for his role in Joker.

Upon accepting the accolade, he paid tribute to his late brother, fellow actor River Phoenix, who died from a drug overdose at 23 years old in October of 1993.

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The star recited a lyric by his brother to comment on the "world's distressing issues"."

"When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric," he told the audience.

"He said, 'Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.'"

On the podcast, Phoenix repeated the story behind the speech, instead this time referring to Mara by her first name: "Rooney was like, 'That's what you should say!'"

Phoenix and Mara have been publicly dating for close to a decade after having met on the 2012 set of Her. 

In 2017, the long-rumoured couple attended their first public event together at the Cannes Film Festival; two years later, they were engaged. 

The happy pair also share a son, River, who they welcomed in 2020 and named after the late star. 

In February, Mara attended the premiere of La Cocina at the Berlin Film Festival, where she debuted her growing baby bump. 

It has yet to be confirmed whether the pair have welcomed their second child or are officially married. 

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