Who is Summer Phoenix?
Summer Joy Phoenix was born in Winter Park, Florida USA on 10 December 1978 – her zodiac sign is Sagittarius, and she holds American nationality. She’s an actress, model and a fashion designer, with close to 30 acting credits to her name, while she’s perhaps still known best for her portrayal of the main character Carla Moebius, in the 2001 drama movie “The Believer”. Written and directed by Henry Bean, it also starred Ryan Gosling and Peter Meadows, and follows the life of a Jewish man who was a member of the KKK – Ku Klux Klan – in the ‘60s; the film won six of the 16 awards for which it was nominated.
Early life and education
Summer was raised alongside her sisters Rain and Liberty, and brothers River and Joaquin, in Winter Park by their father John Lee Bottom and their mother Arlyn Sharon Phoenix (nee Dunetz), who was a social activist.
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All of Summer’s siblings have become actors and actress, while Joaquin Rafael Phoenix is perhaps the most popular amongst them, winning an Oscar for his portrayal of the title character in the 2019 psychological thriller movie “Joker”.
Summer became interested in acting at a very early age, and was five years old when she made her debut TV series appearance in the episode “Flight #093 Is Missing” of the action science fiction adventure “Airwolf”. The same year also saw her play Cindy Donovan in the episode “We’re Off to Kill the Wizard” of the mystery crime drama “Murder, She Wrote”.
She continued acting throughout her entire education. Summer attended a local high school, at which she was into various activities, including playing soccer, practicing creative writing, and doing gymnastics. Upon matriculating in 1996, she enrolled at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, but dropped out after two years to focus on her acting career.
Roles in movies
Summer made her debut film appearance in 1986, with her portrayal of Frannie in the comedy “Taking It Home”, and a couple of her following roles were in the 1986 drama “Kate’s Secret”, the 1987 drama “Russkies”, and later the 1997 drama “Arresting Gena”.
She gained recognition in 1998, when she played Brandy in the musical comedy drama “SLC Punk!”, written and directed by James Merendino, and which starred Matthew Lillard, Michael A. Goorjian and Annabeth Gish. It follows Heroin Bob and Stevo, the only two dedicated punks in Salt Lake City in the ‘80s; the movie won two of the eight awards for which it was nominated.
Summer appeared in three movies in 2000: the mystery science fiction horror “The Faculty”, the comedy drama “Committed”, and the romantic drama “Esther Kahn”.
Her following notable performance was her portrayal of the main character Suzie Gold, in the eponymous 2004 romantic comedy drama, written and directed by Ric Cantor, and which also starred Ariana Fraval and Daniel Mendoza. It follows Suzie as her sister is about to marry, while Suzie has now fallen in love with the non-Jewish man Darren; the movie was nominated for a single award.
Summer then took a 12-year-long break from acting, to focus on her family. She returned in 2016, with her portrayal of Samantha in the drama “All at Once”, and in 2017, she played one of the main characters, Beatrice Price, in the thriller drama “The Mad Whale”. Directed by Sonia A. Guggenheim and David Breschel, it also starred Camilla Belle and Dominic Rains, and follows the women in a mental asylum as they’re staging their production of “Moby Dick”.
Two of Summer’s most recent film roles have been in 2019, in the biographical drama “Why Not Choose Love: A Mary Pickford Manifesto”, and the short drama “Skin”.
Roles in TV series
Summer portrayed Molly Kelly in the 1987 episode “Elegy” of the romantic comedy “Duet”, and the same year saw her play Jody in the episode “Big Brother’s Not Watching”, of the family comedy “Growing Pains”.
In 1988, she made a guest appearance in the episode “Runaway Ralph” of the short adventure “ABC Weekend Specials”, and in the following year, Summer portrayed Bettie Haskell in the episode “Still the New Leave It to Beaver” of the family comedy “The New Leave It to Beaver”; created by Brian Levant, it starred Barbara Billingsley, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers, and follows the lives of Beaver Cleaver and his family and friends. the series aired from 1983 to 1989, and won four of the 17 awards for which it was nominated.
Summer’s only other two roles in TV series have been in the 1990 episode “New Acquaintance” of the science fiction drama “Swamp Thing”, and the 1997 episode “Ambush” of the romantic drama “ER”.
Other credits
Summer wrote and performed the song “The Sky Is Down” in the 2002 movie “Wasted”. In 2004, she sang “Don’t Stop Moving” in the film “Suzie Gold”, and in 2007, she sang “Momma Butterfly” in the film “Reservation Road”.
She has received three special thanks: for the 2007 documentary series “4Real”, the 2010 musical comedy movie “I’m Still Here”, and the critically acclaimed 2016 drama film “Manchester by the Sea”, which won 131 awards including two Oscars, and was nominated for 263 other awards.
Summer has made a guest appearance in a couple of talk-shows, including “Molto Mario” and “Entertainment Tonight”.
Awards and nominations
In 2002, Summer was nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, for her performance in “The Believer”, and in 2003, she was nominated for a Prism Award for Performance in TV Movie or Miniseries for “Wasted”.
Love life and marriage with Casey Affleck
On 25 December 2003, Summer and the famous American actor and film director Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt announced that they were engaged. Casey has appeared in over 40 movies and TV series, and has won 68 awards, including an Oscar, while he’s been nominated for 61 other awards; he won his Oscar for his performance in the 2016 drama movie “Manchester by the Sea”, written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, and which also starred Kyle Chandler and Michelle Williams. It follows a depressed man who’s being asked to take care of his nephew, after his father passes away.
On 31 May 2004, Summer gave birth to her and Casey’s son Indiana August in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; she and Casey exchanged vows on 3 June 2006, in a private ceremony in Savannah, Georgia, attended by their closest friends and family members. On 12 January 2008, Summer gave birth to their second son Atticus, but in March 2016, after close to 10 years of marriage, Summer and Casey revealed that they had separated five months prior; their divorce was finalized in 2017.
Neither of the two have spoken of any other people whom they have perhaps been with since their divorce, so as of September 2021, Summer seems to be single, was married to Casey Affleck, with whom she has two sons.
Hobbies and other interests
Summer loves to travel, and her acting career has taken her all around the US, as well as to a couple of European countries, including England, France and Italy; her dream travel destination is Tokyo in Japan.
She’s physically active, and has a couple of training sessions at the gym each week, while she’s also following a strict diet – Summer is a vegan.
She’s a huge lover of animals, and has volunteered at various animal shelters, as well as donated money.
Summer’s favorite season is summer, as she enjoys sun tanning and drinking cocktails at the beach.
She has her own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Amanda Seyfried, while a couple of her favorite movies are the franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “Titanic” and “Les Miserables”.
Age, height and net worth
Summer’s age is 42. She has long brown hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) and she weighs around 128lbs (58kgs).
As of September 2021, her net worth has been estimated at over $4 million, while her ex-husband Casey’s net worth is reputedly over $20 million.
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