Joaquin Phoenix calls Rooney Mara 'his wife' in new interview

Joaquin Phoenix has sparked speculation that he's married to his partner Rooney Mara.

The Joker star sparked marriage rumours when he called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star "his wife" on the Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso podcast.

Discussing his 2020 Best Actor Oscar acceptance speech, Phoenix told the podcast host that he found inspiration for what to say while "talking with my mum and my wife".

The Walk the Line star added moments later, "Rooney was like, 'That's what you should say!'"

He did not confirm if he and Mara were legally married.

The notoriously private couple met on the set of the 2013 film Her and began dating in 2016. They got engaged in 2019.

They welcomed their first child - a son named River in honour of Phoenix's late brother - in 2020. The Social Network star revealed she was pregnant with their second child on the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival in February and she reportedly gave birth in June.

The baby's arrival was confirmed in September when Mara, 39, was spotted outside Marco Polo Airport in Venice, Italy with a child wrapped in a blanket in her arms.

She was there to support Phoenix, 49, while he promoted his movie Joker: Folie à Deux at the Venice Film Festival. However, she did not join him on the red carpet and he was accompanied by his sister Rain instead.

They have yet to reveal the child's name and gender.