Amber Heard Biography

Amber Heard is an American actress whose fame after 2016 had more to do with her divorce from movie star Johnny Depp than her onscreen career.

She left school early in Texas and set out to be a model in New York and Los Angeles, which led to acting roles in TV and movies.

Blond and leggy, Heard appeared in small roles in a number of independent films after 2004, including North Country (2005, as a younger Charlize Theron), Alpha Dog (2006, starring Emile Hirsch), Pineapple Express (2008, starring Seth Rogen) and Zombieland (2009, starring Jesse Eisenberg).

Heard worked steadily in the movies for a decade without quite breaking into stardom, but her marriage to Johnny Depp in 2015 kept her in the headlines (even more than her much-publicized previous relationship with photographer/artist Tasya Van Ree).

Heard’s acting career got a boost thanks to her performance in The Danish Girl (2015, starring Eddie Redmayne), but then tabloid coverage overwhelmed her: she and Depp got in legal trouble in Australia for trying to sneak in their pet Yorkshire Terriers (Pistol and Boo), and a few months later, Heard filed for divorce, accusing Depp of physical and emotional abuse.

Heard and Depp divorced in 2017 and she was awarded $7 million in a settlement; she pledged that money to charity.

In late 2018 Heard wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post as a survivor of domestic abuse. Depp filed a defamation suit the following year, and in 2020 Heard counter-sued, saying Depp had defamed her by saying her accusations were a hoax.

The televised 2022 trial ended with Depp being awarded $10.35 million for being defamed by Heard, and Heard being awarded $2 million for being defamed by Depp.