Trivia: Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in this film. This marked the second time an actor won an Oscar for playing a character that was played previously by another actor that also won an Oscar for their role. The other time was Phoenix's costar in this film, Robert De Niro, winning Best Supporting Actor for playing the younger version of Vito Corleone in "The Godfather Part II," following Marlon Brando winning Best Actor for the first film.