Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara's Relationship Timeline

Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara got engaged in 2019 and are currently expecting baby No. 2

Joaquin Phoenix arrives with Rooney Mara for the 92nd Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California
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VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty 

Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara are going to parents — again!

Mara announced the couple's second pregnancy by showing off her growing baby bump at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2024.

Phoenix and the Nightmare Alley star, who have been together since 2016, already share a son, River, whom they welcomed in 2020.

From meeting on a movie set to getting engaged, here is a complete timeline of Mara and Phoenix's relationship.

01 of 18

2012: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara meet on set of 'Her'

Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara
Elisabetta A. Villa/WireImage

Phoenix and Mara met in 2012 on the set of Her, in which Mara played Phoenix's ex-wife.

Things weren't romantic right away for the costars. In fact, Phoenix told Vanity Fair in 2019 that he thought Mara didn't like him at all, but it turns out she was just shy.

"She's the only girl I ever looked up on the internet," he said. "We were just friends, e-mail friends. I'd never done that. Never looked up a girl online."

02 of 18

2016: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara costar in 'Mary Magdalene'

Joaquin Phoenix and actress Rooney Mara
Dave J Hogan/Getty

Phoenix and Mara reunited on-screen when they costarred in the 2016 Mary Magdalene. Mara played the titular role, and Phoenix portrayed Jesus.

"I was looking for something meaningful," Phoenix explained to T Magazine in 2017 on what drew him to the film. "I was looking for an experience. I was friends with Rooney."

The film wasn't released in the United States until April 2019, over a year after premiering in London in February 2018.

03 of 18

May 28, 2017: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara appear together at the Cannes Film Festival

Joaquin Phoenix and actress Rooney Mara
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Phoenix and Mara made their first public appearance as a couple at the closing ceremonies for the Cannes Film Festival on May 28, 2017. The pair sat together and interacted like a couple, including holding hands and embracing after Phoenix won the festival's best actor award for his role in 2017's You Were Never Really Here.

"They were talking to one another nonstop," a source told PEOPLE at the time. "Small talk between them. Then they went for their car, and he's holding her hand like it was unconscious. Like it fits. They seem a totally natural and easy couple."

04 of 18

September 2017: Joaquin Phoenix reveals Rooney Mara has a thing for true-crime docs

Joaquin Phoenix and actress Rooney Mara
Rich Polk/Getty

In September 2017, the actor told T Magazine that he and Mara live together in the Hollywood Hills. Although Phoenix did not share details on when the two started cohabitating, he revealed how they spend their downtime at home.

According to Phoenix (a self-proclaimed homebody), he's usually asleep by 9 p.m. and up by 6 a.m. Among the activities in his daily routine are answering emails, meditating, "chilling" with his dog, taking karate classes and eating.

Phoenix also said that he and Mara binge-watched the Netflix true-crime documentary The Staircase because Mara wanted to, and he let the cat out of the bag that his favorite movie at the time was Disney's 2016 animated film Moana. "I thought it was beautiful," he said, before changing his answer to The Lost City of Z.

05 of 18

2019: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara get engaged

Joaquin Phoenix and actress Rooney Mara
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

The couple privately got engaged in 2019. Rumors of an engagement sparked when Mara was photographed wearing a large diamond ring on her left hand.

However, representatives for Mara and Phoenix did not comment when asked about their relationship status.

06 of 18

June 2, 2019: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara protest together during National Animal Rights Day

Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara
BG69/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Phoenix and Mara are both passionate activists, and in 2019, they joined a protest together on National Animal Rights Day.

The couple marched in West Hollywood holding dead animals during the demonstration. At the end of 2019, Phoenix was named PETA's person of the year for his animal rights activism.

07 of 18

September 2019: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara arrive by boat at the Venice Film Festival

Joaquin Phoenix and actress Rooney Mara
Ernesto Ruscio/GC Images

At the 2019 Venice Film Festival, Phoenix and Mara made a grand entrance for the world premiere of his film Joker. The couple was all smiles as they arrived on a boat. Phoenix wore a tux and Mara a white gown.

The movie would later win the festival's big prize, the Golden Lion, for best film.

08 of 18

September 9, 2019: Joaquin Phoenix says "I love you" to Rooney Mara after receiving TIFF honor

Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix
Rooney Mara (L) and Joaquin Phoenix. Kevin Winter/Getty

After winning the inaugural TIFF Tribute Actor Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2019, Phoenix used his acceptance speech to honor his late brother River Phoenix and thank his fiancée for her support.

"One last thing — somewhere here, I don't know where, is a filthy dragon, and I want to rip its wings off and fasten a blanket and sleep with it forever," he said. "I love you. Thank you."

09 of 18

October 8, 2019: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara are spotted together in L.A.

Just days after Joker had the biggest box office opening weekend in history, Phoenix and Mara were seen together in L.A. with friends.

Phoenix wore a black T-shirt, black jeans and black shoes, while Mara wore a white T-shirt, black pants and a black sweatshirt tied around her waist.

10 of 18

January 5, 2020: Joaquin Phoenix smiles at Rooney Mara on the Golden Globes red carpet

Joaquin Phoenix and actress Rooney Mara
Frazer Harrison/Getty

Phoenix looked on lovingly as Mara posed for photos at the 2020 Golden Globes, where the couple made a rare appearance on the red carpet together.

Later that evening, Phoenix received the Golden Globe for best performance in a motion picture drama for his role in Joker.

11 of 18

February 9, 2020: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara make their Oscars red carpet debut

Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix
Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

The pair stunned on the 2020 Oscars red carpet. Phoenix would go on to win Best Actor for his performance in Joker. In his speech, he spoke passionately about bettering the world: "I think that's when we're at our best, when we support each other ... when we help each other grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other towards redemption. That is the best of humanity."

After Phoenix's big win, the couple visited Monty's Good Burger in L.A.'s Koreatown to celebrate with plant-based burgers.

12 of 18

2020: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara welcome their first child together

Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara

The couple welcomed their first child, a son named River, after Phoenix's late brother, who died in 1993.

Russian filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky, with whom Phoenix worked on the dialogue-free documentary Gunda, confirmed the name of the couple's baby during an appearance at the 2020 Zurich Film Festival.

"He just got a baby, by the way," Kossakovsky said while speaking at the festival. "A beautiful son called River."

Mara later confirmed River's name when she mentioned her son in a Mother's Day 2021 campaign for Farm Sanctuary.

13 of 18

October 6, 2021: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara take a walk in N.Y.C.

Phoenix and Mara made a rare appearance together in N.Y.C. in October 2021.

The couple was spotted walking through Manhattan, with Phoenix wrapping his arm around Mara's shoulders at one point.

14 of 18

November 18, 2021: Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara speak out against eating turkeys for Thanksgiving

Phoenix and Mara once again teamed up to use their platform to advocate for adopting, not eating, turkeys during the Thanksgiving holiday for Farm Sanctuary's Adopt a Turkey initiative.

"In this season of giving, please join us in adopting a turkey and leaving them off your plates," the couple said in a statement.

15 of 18

October 24, 2022: Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix Are Cast in "The Island" Together

News broke that Mara and Phoenix will star in in Pawel Pawlikowski's next thriller, The Island.

The film is inspired by true events and follows a 1930s couple who choose to live on a remote island until their lifestyle inspires "a tabloid newspaper sensation."

16 of 18

December 20, 2022: Rooney Mara Talks About Parenting with Joaquin Phoenix

Mara opened up about parenting with Phoenix on her LaunchLeft podcast.

The actress spoke to guest Rain Phoenix, Phoenix's sister, about how "lucky" she is to have the option to stay home with her son and explained that she never expected to raise children with another actor.

"It doesn't feel like a two-actor house because I didn't work for the first three and a half years we were together," Mara said. "Basically since we've been together, I only worked one or two times and one was really small and short. It feels like a creative household, we're constantly talking about creative things."

17 of 18

October 14, 2023: Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix host a screening of The Smell of Money

Actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara attend the Los Angeles Special Screening of "The Smell Of Money" at Laemmle Monica Film Center on October 14, 2023

Amanda Edwards/Getty

The couple hosted a screening of The Smell of Money in Los Angeles. The documentary film — which was executive produced by Mara's sister, actress Kate Mara —  follows a North Carolina community's years-long legal battle with a major pork company.

18 of 18

February 16, 2024: Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix are expecting baby No. 2

Rooney Mara attends the "La Cocina" premiere during the 74th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Berlinale Palast

Dominique Charriau/WireImage

Mara announced her second pregnancy on the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany. The actress, who was dressed in a strapless black gown, was seen cradling her growing baby bump.