Amber Heard

Heard next starred in NBC's The Playboy Club, a crime drama series about the original Playboy Club in 1960s Chicago.

After poor reviews and ratings as well as protests from both feminists and conservative groups, the series was canceled after only three episodes had aired.

Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress.

Amber Laura Heard was born on April 22, 1986, in Austin, Texas, the middle child of three daughters of internet researcher Patricia Paige (née Parsons; 1956–2020) and construction company owner David Clinton Heard (born 1950).

The family lived outside Austin.

Heard's father trained horses in his free time, and she grew up riding horses, hunting, and fishing with him.

She also participated in beauty pageants, although as an adult she has said that she could no longer "support the objectification".

Raised Catholic, Heard began identifying as an atheist at the age of sixteen after her best friend died in a car crash.

The following year, no longer comfortable in "conservative, God-fearin' Texas", Heard dropped out of her Catholic high school to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles.

She eventually earned a diploma through a home-study course.

Heard's earliest acting work included appearances in two music videos, Kenny Chesney's "There Goes My Life" and Eisley's "I Wasn't Prepared", and small supporting roles in the television series Jack & Bobby (2004), The Mountain (2004), and The O.C. (2005).

She made her film debut in a minor role in the sports drama Friday Night Lights (2004), followed by brief supporting roles in films Drop Dead Sexy (2005), North Country (2005), Side FX (2005), Price to Pay (2006), Alpha Dog (2006), and Spin (2007), and a guest-starring spot in an episode of the police procedural crime drama television series Criminal Minds.

She had her first leading role in the horror film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), and went on to star in films such as The Ward (2010), Drive Angry (2011), and London Fields (2018).

Heard received her first leading role in the unconventional slasher film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, but was not released in Europe until 2008 and in the US until 2013 due to distribution problems.

She has also acted in television series such as The CW's teen drama Hidden Palms (2007) and the Paramount+'s fantasy series The Stand (2020).

In 2007, Heard played the love interest of the main character in The CW's teen drama Hidden Palms, which the network aired to replace summer reruns of other series aimed at teenage audiences.

That same year, Heard also appeared in the short movie Day 73 with Sarah, in the teen drama Remember the Daze, and in an episode of the Showtime series Californication.

She has also had supporting roles in films including Pineapple Express (2008), Never Back Down (2008), The Joneses (2009), The Rum Diary (2011), Paranoia (2013), Machete Kills (2013), Magic Mike XXL (2015), and The Danish Girl (2015).

Heard gained mainstream recognition in 2008 with supporting roles in the Judd Apatow-produced stoner comedy Pineapple Express and the martial arts drama Never Back Down.

She also appeared as part of an ensemble cast in an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel The Informers (2008).

The following year, Heard starred in The Joneses (2009) opposite David Duchovny and Demi Moore; Variety wrote that Heard "more or less steals the show" from Moore.

Outside a brief appearance in the box office hit Zombieland (2009), Heard's other films during this time were either independent films that received only limited theatrical release – ExTerminators (2009), The River Why (2010), And Soon the Darkness (2010) – or critically panned horror films – The Stepfather (2009), The Ward.

Heard's first film release in 2011 was Drive Angry, a supernatural action thriller in which she was paired with Nicolas Cage.

The film underperformed commercially, but film critic Roger Ebert wrote that she "does everything that can possibly be done" with her character, a waitress who becomes entangled in an undead man's mission to save his daughter from a cult.

In early 2011, Heard also appeared on the British television program Top Gear as a star in a reasonably priced car coming 33rd of 41 on their Cee'd leaderboard.

Heard's third role of 2011 was as the love interest of the main character, played by Johnny Depp, in the Hunter S. Thompson adaptation The Rum Diary (2011).

A commercial failure, grossing $30 million on a $45 million budget, the film received mixed reviews.

In 2011, Heard appeared in an advertisement campaign for the fashion brand Guess.

Heard next starred in the thriller Paranoia (2013), the exploitation film Machete Kills (2013), and the satire Syrup (2013).

That year also saw the US limited release of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.

Heard's performance in the film was deemed her "most definitive to date" by the Los Angeles Times and "psychologically interesting" by The Washington Post.

In 2014, Heard appeared in a supporting role in the action-thriller 3 Days to Kill.

Heard married actor Johnny Depp in 2015 until their dissolution of the marriage in 2016.

The two have since accused each other of domestic abuse and engaged in two lengthy and high-profile defamation cases, the Depp v. NGN trial and the widely publicized Depp v. Heard trial.

In 2015, Heard had a prominent role in the comedy-drama Magic Mike XXL, playing the love interest of the film's protagonist, Channing Tatum.

Heard also had a small supporting role in Tom Hooper's period drama The Danish Girl (2015), and a starring role opposite James Franco and Ed Harris in the independent crime thriller The Adderall Diaries (2015).

IndieWire stated that although Heard was "miscast" in The Adderrall Diaries, she "displays much potential and has succeeded in a bid to be taken more seriously".

In 2016, Heard became a volunteer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the capacity of an ACLU Artist Ambassador, a role reserved for individuals who advocate for civil rights and civil liberties.

Heard also served as a Human Rights Ambassador for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Heard played Mera in the DC Extended Universe, including the films Justice League (2017), Aquaman (2018) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).