2003–2007: Early roles 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. 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. 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.
2008–2016: Mainstream recognition 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 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. 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. 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". Her fourth role in 2015 was opposite
Christopher Walken in the television film
One More Time, which aired on
Starz. For her role as a struggling singer-songwriter, she took singing lessons and learned to play piano and guitar. The
Los Angeles Times called her performance "superb" and
The Film Stage stated that Heard did an "admirable job". Heard also appeared in a November 2015 episode of the American automotive reality series ''
Overhaulin''', in which her
Mustang received a makeover. It also featured the cast pranking Heard at the behest of Depp. Heard played the female lead in
London Fields, an adaptation of
Martin Amis's novel about a
clairvoyant femme fatale who knows she will be murdered. It premiered at the
2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Shortly after the screening, the film was pulled from release due to disagreements between its director and producers, and due to litigation. Heard was sued for $10 million for allegedly breaching performance and promotional obligations. The actress countersued, claiming the producers had violated a nudity rider in her contract. In September 2018, a settlement was reached, and the film was finally released. It received highly negative reviews, and Heard later stated that "it was one of the most difficult movies to film and it has proven to continue to be difficult ... I can't say I did [the character] justice". while Peter Sobczynski of
RogerEbert.com said that she "just does not project the kind of mystery and allure" that the character requires. In 2019, Heard's performance in the film received a nomination for the
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress.
2017–present: DC Extended Universe and other projects '' at the 2018
San Diego Comic-Con In 2017, Heard appeared as part of an ensemble cast in
Lake Bell's indie comedy ''
I Do... Until I Don't and joined the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) cast as Mera, a princess of an Atlantean kingdom, in the superhero film Justice League. She reprised the role the following year in Aquaman'', which co-starred
Jason Momoa and marked Heard's first major role in a studio film. She cited Mera's trait of being "a strong, independent, self-possessed superhero in her own right" as one of the reasons for her attraction to the role as well as Mera's rejection of being called Aquawoman instead of by her own name. It was a commercial success, grossing over $1 billion. The
Chicago Tribunes
Michael Phillips and
The Independents Geoffrey Macnab respectively noted that Heard "lends a blasé air of early '50s B-movie cheese" and that she "camps it up entertainingly" as Mera. That same year, Heard was appointed global ambassador for cosmetics brand
L'Oréal Paris. Her only project released in 2020 was
The Stand, a miniseries based on
Stephen King's
novel of the same name. She played Nadine Cross, a school teacher who is among the few survivors of an apocalyptic plague. It premiered on
CBS All Access in December 2020, with the series finale airing in February 2021. In 2021, Heard reprised her role as Mera in the superhero film ''
Zack Snyder's Justice League'', a
director's cut of the 2017 film, for which she had also filmed new scenes. Heard reprised her Mera role in
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), a sequel to
Aquaman. Heard described the campaign as "paid rumors and paid campaigns on social media", and the film's co-producer,
Peter Safran, confirmed that Heard would appear in the sequel. By the start of the 2022
Depp v. Heard trial in the US, the petition had reached 2 million signatures. Heard stated that she "'fought really hard to stay in the movie' but that 'they didn't want to include me in the film' and only shot a 'very pared-down version' of her part".
Walter Hamada, a former
DC Studios president, and
James Wan, the film's director, attributed the reduction of Heard's role to the sequel's intention to focus on the relationship between Momoa and
Patrick Wilson's characters. Following the release of
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in 2023, several critics observed that, true to what Heard claimed in court, a number of her scenes seem to have been cut out from the film. Another critic noted that "Heard, a steely highlight of
Aquaman, here feels as though her scenes were all added in post" and that "Given the clunky way Mera is literally silenced in the movie... it's hard not to assume that someone important in the production considered her a liability and made a decision of profound, deeply disappointing cowardice: To treat her as radioactive." Echoing these sentiments, another critic wrote that "the fact that Heard's role is so sloppy and awkward suggests this wasn't the plan all along. It truly looks as if someone erased her actual role and then tossed her into the movie at the last minute as an afterthought" and further added that this is consistent with "Heard's allegations of the film cutting her role from the original script". In a more recent interview,
Dolph Lundgren confirmed these observations by noting that "the original script was great... I was a bigger part of it and Amber Heard was a bigger part of it" while also lamenting that "The studio decided... to just reshoot a bunch of footage to try to rebuild a slightly different story line... I felt a little disappointed, but life goes on." Heard's first role after the trial was in the film
In the Fire, directed by
Conor Allyn. The film premiered at the
Taormina Film Fest in June 2023. It was released in October 2023. In June 2025, Heard was cast in
Jeremy O. Harris' play
Spirit of the People. The play premiered on July 17 at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival's MainStage Theatre. ==Activism==