 After being nominated for an Oscar for  _Running on Empty (1988)_ (qv), MTV asked River Phoenix (qv) what  he wanted to do next. He responded by pulling out a beat up  paperback of "The Basketball Diaries" and stated "I wanted to play  Jim Carroll." Later, the Los Angeles Times declared, "River Phoenix  may have wanted it too much." Leonardo DiCaprio (qv) was a fan of  Phoenixs.