Amber Heard

Like many up-and-coming actresses in Hollywood, Amber Heard made her mark playing overtly sexualized teens. But she steadily proved herself to be more than just a pretty face by tackling roles in a variety of genres, whether it was comedy, action or adventure. Heard launched her career with small parts on television shows like the hit teen drama "The O.C." (Fox, 2003-07), and had featured roles in "Friday Night Lights" (2004) and in "North Country" (2005). She also proved her comedic chops in the comedy "Pineapple Express" (2008) opposite Seth Rogen and James Franco. Although her much-promoted drama series "The Playboy Club" (NBC, 2011), about the Bunnies and patrons of the famed Playboy Chicago hot spot in the 1960s, was quickly canceled, Heard remained heavily in demand.

Eclectic projects like "The Rum Diary" (2011), opposite Johnny Depp (whom she went on to marry in 2015 and divorce in early 2017), Robert Rodriguez's gleefully over the top "Machete Kills" (2013), and the art house drama "The Danish Girl" (2015) further bolstered the young actress' increased visibility on the big screen before her role as Mera in the DC Comics franchises "Justice League" (2017) and "Aquaman" (2018) increased her mainstream visibility. Beautiful, talented and not afraid to tackle controversy in either her professional or personal choices, Heard quickly became one of the most watched actresses in the business.

Amber Laura Heard was born on April 22, 1986 in Austin, TX. As a teen, the future star often performed in school productions and appeared in local commercials. She seemed on track to pursue acting and modeling, but not until undergoing a life-changing incident. At 16, Heard's best friend died in a car accident. As a result, Heard, who was raised Catholic, declared herself to be an atheist. The following year, she moved to New York City to become a model, but relocated to Los Angeles to start an acting career. Heard had a minor part on the short-lived drama series "Jack & Bobby" (The WB, 2004-05), a faux-documentary about the life of the teenaged Robert "Bobby" McCallister, future President of the United States. She also had a cameo on the popular teen drama series "The O.C."

By the mid-2000s, Heard began delving into feature film acting. She appeared in films such as "Friday Night Lights" and "Alpha Dog" (2006), often in roles of a highly sexualized teenager. She also played the younger version of Charlize Theron's character in the Academy Award-winning drama "North Country."

One of Heard's first lead roles was on The CW series "Hidden Palms" (2007), about a group of teenagers and their families who live in California's desert oasis, Palm Springs. To land the role of a grieving teenager, Heard was reportedly asked to lose about 25 pounds. The series, however, was cancelled after airing only eight episodes.

In 2008, Heard became the breakout star of the stoner comedy "Pineapple Express," in which she played Seth Rogen's unexpectedly mature-for-her age girlfriend. She tackled yet another sexy teenager role in "The Stepfather" (2009) a remake of the classic '80s horror film. Heard played the girlfriend of Penn Badgley, who comes home from military school to discover his mother living with a man he suspects harbors a dark, sinister side. Heard, who by 2010 was already causing quite a stir in Hollywood, announced that she was a lesbian at GLAAD's 25th anniversary celebration. During the event, she also revealed that she had been dating photographer Tasya van Ree for almost two years.

After a starring role in the thriller "And Soon the Darkness" (2010), a tepid remake of an earlier British film of the same name, Heard won the lead in "The Ward" (2010), horror director John Carpenter's long awaited return to the genre. The film, about an institutionalized young woman (Heard) terrorized by a malevolent ghost unfortunately failed to capture the imagination of most filmgoers. Early the next year, she took the passenger seat alongside Nicholas Cage in "Drive Angry" (2011), a high-octane tale of supernatural revenge.

In the fall of that year, Heard also joined the cast of the swinging '60s era television drama "The Playboy Club" (NBC, 2011), as a newly hired bunny navigating the sexual politics and groping hands of the clientele at the iconic men's social establishment. The show sparked controversy prior to its premiere when groups such as The Parents Television Council found its content egregiously risqué. For her part, Heard defended the show by asserting that it portrayed the women as trailblazers, while famous feminist activist Gloria Steinem characterized the show as archaically misogynistic. Early critics, however, merely deemed the melodrama bland and badly written.

Capping off the year, Heard appeared as Johnny Depp's forbidden love interest in the long-delayed adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's semiautobiographical novel "The Rum Diary" (2011). Heard's previous proclamation about her sexuality notwithstanding, she and Depp began dating following his 2012 divorce from Vanessa Paradis; the couple married in February 2015 but soon had a messily public split, divorcing in January 2017.

Heard appeared in three films in 2013, the indie comedy "Syrup" (2013), techno-thriller "Paranoia" (2013) and Robert Rodriguez's tongue in cheek sequel "Machete Kills" (2013). The following year, she co-starred with Kevin Costner and Hailee Steinfeld in McG's action thriller "3 Days To Kill" (2014). After starring opposite Christopher Walken in the drama "When I Live My Life Over Again" (2015), Heard appeared in the hit sequel "Magic Mike XXL" and the 1920s-set transgender drama "The Danish Girl" (2015).

After co-starring in an adaptation of the Martin Amis thriller "London Fields" (2017) that was hampered by legal disputes between director Matthew Cullen, Heard and the film's producers, Heard joined the DC superhero franchise, appearing as Mera, Aquaman's wife, in "Justice League" (2017) and "Aquaman" (2018).