AMBER IN DEEP?
`No chemistry' — DC boss reveals the real reason Heard was almost dumped from Aquaman 2
Amber Heard's claims that she was almost dropped from Aquaman 2 due to the backlash over her domestic abuse allegations against Johnny Depp took a hit on Tuesday.
Walter Hamada, the president of DC Films, was called as a rebuttal witness by Depp's lawyers to refute her claim that the sordid details from her short-lived marriage to the actor affected her role in the upcoming sequel.
Earlier in the trial, Heard revealed that she was paid $1 million for the first Aquaman and received $2 million for the sequel, which is due out next year. Her role as Queen Mera is rumoured to be cut significantly from the followup, with the character only appearing briefly at the beginning and at the end.
Hamada told jurors via video deposition that the studio considered recasting the character over concerns that Heard lacked chemistry with the film's star, Jason Momoa.
“They didn't really have a lot of chemistry together,” Hamada said. “The reality is, it's not uncommon on movies for two leads to not have chemistry. It's sort of movie magic to put two performances together and with the magic of a great score and how you put the pieces together, you can fabricate that chemistry. So at the end of the day, if you watch the movie, it looks like they have great chemistry. But I know that over the course of post-production, it took a lot for it to get there.”
Hamada also denied that Heard was released from her Aquaman 2 contract in 2021 as she contended on the stand last week.
“They released me from my contract. And I fought to stay in it, and they kept me in it. I just don't know how much I'm in, actually, of the final cut,” she declared.
Heard had said earlier that she appears in the film in a “very pared-down version of that role.”
“I was given a script and then given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it,” she said. “That depicted my character and another character ... fighting with one another. They basically took a bunch out of my role.”
Heard has maintained that statements from Depp's former attorney Adam Waldman calling her domestic violence allegations an “abuse hoax” affected her compensation on the sequel and harmed her career.
Depp, 58, is suing Heard for $50 million, saying she defamed him when she claimed to be a survivor of domestic abuse in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post. Heard, 36, has counter-sued for $100 million, arguing that Depp smeared her by calling her a liar.
At one point considered one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Depp says Heard's article cost him “everything” and led to a string of cancelled movies, including a sixth instalment in his Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Last month, the Edward Scissorhands star testified he never hit Heard and maintained she was the abuser in their relationship. Depp said Heard threw a vodka bottle at him in 2015 — severing the top of his right middle finger — while they were in Australia.
Heard countered by saying Depp injured his finger when he smashed a phone during a heated argument. Elsewhere during her testimony, Heard alleged numerous instances of physical violence with Depp's lawyers using audio recordings and red carpet appearances to cast doubt on her claims.
On Monday, Kathryn Arnold, an entertainment industry consultant, weighed in on what caused Depp's career downturn, and said his work reputation and a series of box-office bombs, including The Lone Ranger, Mortdecai and Transcendence — and not Heard's op-ed — caused him to fall out of favour.
Meanwhile, Arnold tried to argue Heard lost out on millions from TV and movie projects, including a part in Michael Bay's Ambulance and a Prime Video series with Gael Garcia Bernal.
But Hamada told the courtroom Heard was not the star of Aquaman and that Warner viewed the film as a “buddy movie” between Momoa's titular hero and King Orm (Patrick Wilson), his brother.
Heard also didn't get a raise for the sequel because of the company's policy to hold its talent to pre-negotiated contracts.
“A big part of our philosophy was we were going to hold people to their options,” he said.