Amber Heard seems to have stepped out of the spotlight after her high-profile defamation case with her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, in 2022.
After facing criticism from the trial, it’s said that the actress moved to another country and is living under a new name.
Depp sued Heard for defamation over an opinion piece she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018, where she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse, though she didn’t name him — Heard countersued Depp.
On the final day of the trial, the Aquaman star gave an emotional testimony, describing the harassment she faced since her divorce from Depp.
Heard said (per the BBC): “I receive hundreds of death threats regularly if not daily. Thousands since this trial has started. People mocking, mocking my testimony about being assaulted.”
“Every single day I have to relive the trauma.”
She added: “Perhaps it’s easy to forget, but I am a human being. As I stand here today, I can’t have a career. I can’t even have people associate with me because of the threats and the attacks that they will have to endure.”
Since the highly-publicized trial, Heard has only appeared in two movies: In the Fire and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (both 2023).
In the Fire is an indie film about a doctor who goes to a remote plantation to care for a troubled boy with strange abilities.
The film has a poor Rotten Tomatoes score of 15% and a 2.9/10 rating on IMDb. In an interview with Deadline, Heard said she “relished” working on the “passion project.”
She explained: “There’s a tonne of pressure on these big franchise movies, with millions and millions of dollars at stake, and compromises are part of trying to make it the most successful thing it can be.
“Then on the other end of the spectrum is a small indie film like In The Fire, a work of art and work of love, with nowhere near the same resources, and so there are compromises there. The best luck you can have as an actor is to be able to balance both.”
Heard’s role in the Aquaman sequel also made headlines as it’s estimated she only had around 20 minutes of screen time. Business Insider said at the time of the movie’s release: “Devoid of any real depth, Heard’s entire existence in The Lost Kingdom feels purely contractual to fulfill her three-movie deal with Warner Bros.”
“The majority of Heard’s screen time consists of silence as she awkwardly sits and stands pretty beside or behind Aquaman, seemingly biting her tongue.”
During the defamation trial, Heard claimed her role as Mera was significantly reduced after her divorce from Depp. She alleged: “I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that depicted my character and another character, without giving any spoilers away, two characters fighting with one another, and they basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch out.”
According to Heard’s IMDb page, the star has no upcoming film or TV projects planned.
This has left many fans wondering if the actress will ever return to the big screen, with one writing: “I really hope Amber Heard will return.”
Another adds: “I hope Amber Heard gets her joy back, she deserves to.”
With Heard’s move abroad and reported name change, it’s unclear whether the actress plans to continue her Hollywood career.
A source told People magazine in April 2023: “The trial was beyond stressful, and she wanted to start afresh.”
Another film source claimed the actress “felt like a pariah” following the trial’s outcome, which led her to retreat from the public eye.
Heard, who now lives in Madrid, Spain, is reportedly using the name Martha Jane Cannary, referencing the legendary gunslinger Calamity Jane.
She is said to be focusing on being a mom to her daughter, Oonagh Paige, who was born in 2021. It’s also recently been revealed that she’s expecting again, and that she’s “delighted” by the news.
