Joaquin Phoenix is definitely one of the most diverse actors we've seen in quite some time. He killed his role in Gladiator as the antagonist, Commodus, in Gladiator, he portrayed Johnny Cash in the biopic, Walk The Line, and starred in the World War II film, The Master, where he played a sex-obsessed alcoholic all of which earned him Academy Awards.
Unfortunately, Phoenix was involved in a car accident that almost killed him when his brakes failed causing his car to flip and strike another car. Luckily, director, Werner Herzog lived close by. This is what Phoenix had to say about his near-death experience, "I remember this knocking on the passenger window. There was this German voice saying, 'Just relax.' There's the airbag, I can't see, and I'm saying, 'I'm fine.' I am relaxed. Finally, I roll down the window, and this head pops inside. And he said, 'No, you're not.' And suddenly I said to myself, 'That's Werner Herzog' There's something so calming and beautiful about Werner Herzog's voice. I felt completely fine and safe. I climbed out. I got out of the car and I said, 'Thank you,' and he was gone."