We lost something special when we lost Phoenix […] Watching him become a man, seeing how he followed his tastes and his interests, was something that I think most of his fans were looking forward to, and I still wonder sometimes when I see a film he could have starred in how it would have been different with him playing the part. There are lots of talented and eclectic actors working today, but no one who offers up that same combination of talent and charm and charisma that Phoenix had. I don’t consider every death tragic automatically, but considering it’s been two decades and this one still hurts like it’s fresh, I think this stands as one of the greatest sorrows I’ve seen this industry sustain in the time I’ve lived and worked in LA.”

—	"What if River Phoenix had lived?" by Drew McWeeny