Before They Were Stars: Joaquin “Leaf” Phoenix on “Superboy”

It’s always fun to showcase Joaquin Phoenix’s childhood years when he went under the name “Leaf”. Long before there was Smallville, there existed a TV series called Superboy which showcased the adventures of a young Clark Kent before he was Superman and, as you can see here, this show was a lot cheesier. A blonde 14-year old Leaf Phoenix guest starred on one episode as a boy genius named Billy Hercules, who has a bizarre fantasy sequence where he imagines himself as Superboy. I would not be surprised if Joaquin has had a lot of fantasies just like this in recent years.