SICILY, ITALY: Following her much-publicized defamation trial against her former husband, Hollywood behemoth Johnny Depp, Amber Heard wants nothing else but “to make movies and be appreciated as an actress.” As the actress attended the premiere of her film ‘In The Fire’, the befallen actress appeared to have risen from the ashes of her defamation trial and looking forward to restarting her Hollywood career.
The ‘Aquaman’ star, whose last major appearance was in Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ in 2021, has been in the industry for quite a long time. But the aftereffects of the defamation trial have certainly shaken her. But ‘The Stepfather’ actress has realized it is her craft that makes her career and what she has “lived through” has no power over her career.
‘I just want to make movies and be appreciated’
Recently in an interview with Deadline, Heard bared her heart about her dreams, hopes, and aspirations regarding her Hollywood career. While she is currently residing in Spain with her daughter Oonagh Paige, she has not turned her back to Hollywood. Her indie film ‘In The Fire’ was premiered at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, Italy on Saturday, June 24. While she was promoting the film in the Italian city, she stated in the interview, “I just want to make movies and be appreciated, as an actress. I don’t want to have to be crucified to be appreciated as one.”
In the process, she realized the hard way that she cannot control everything as she said, “I’m in control for the most part of what comes out of my mouth. What I’m not in control is how my pride in this project and all we put into this film can be surrounded by clips of other stuff.” She also realized that she cannot control other people’s perception of her saying, “That’s a big thing I had to learn, that I’m not in control of stories other people create around me. That’s something that probably I’ll appreciate as a blessing further down the line.”
The ‘Aquaman’ actress also wants not to be hated by the audience as she said, “Right now, I just kind of want to not have, you know, stones thrown at me so much. So let’s get the elephant out of the room then, and just let me say that. I am an actress. I’m here to support a movie. And that’s not something I can be sued for.”
‘I’ve been acting my whole adult life’
Heard’s interview was not only limited to a vitriolic time, but also laced with nostalgia as she revealed she has been in the celluloid industry for almost two decades, “It might not be obvious to other people, but I’ve been acting my whole adult life, since I was 16.”
She continued, “As crazy as it sounds to say, that means I have decades in this industry. I’m not telling you I have this amazing film career, but what I have is something that I’ve made, myself, and it has given me a lot to be able to contribute. The odds of that in this industry are really improbably but somehow, here I am. I think I’ve earned respect for that to be its own thing. That’s substantial enough.” She also realized that while her thespian career and personal life are interlaced, her personal experiences certainly do not make the artist Amber Heard, for which she said, “What I have been through, what I’ve lived through, doesn’t make my career at all. And it’s certainly not gonna stop my career.”
'Amber is back'
The director of ‘In The Fire’, Conor Allyn is optimistic that the film will be the vessel for Amber Heard’s “mega-comeback”. He also praised the defamed actress gloriously, saying to Variety, “When Amber showed up in Italy to shoot, she was a force to be reckoned with. She was a star who was amazing in front of the camera, but also was a partner in crime behind the camera.” He further added, “Once we started shooting, it was from Day One a comfort blanket to have her there. I knew I could point the camera at her, and I would get something good.”
The ‘No Man’s Land’ director also voiced the sentiment that seems to have resonated with Heard’s dreams of getting appreciated for her work, “Amber is back. She’s great; she is radiant; she’s a good actor and she is resilient.”
