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Devout DC Comics fans have been rallying for Amber Heard to be fired from the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom movie following her defamation trial against her ex-husband and actor Johnny Depp coming to light. Though their wishes may not have been completely fulfilled, sources have confirmed that her role in the upcoming sequel has been drastically reduced.
On Thursday, Amber Heard’s WME talent agent, Jessica Kovacevic, testified in the ongoing trial. She stated that Warner Bros. claimed the 36-year-old’s “lack of chemistry” with Jason Momoa almost got her canned from her role.
In the agent’s pre-recorded deposition, she addressed the “online rumors” that claimed that Aquaman producers wanted her out of the film due to the bad publicity the actress had garnered during the ongoing court case.
Jessica Kovacevic opined that the studio did not “want to hire someone who has bad press.” She added:
“No one wants that association.”
The talent agent also discussed Heard’s career before and after her relationship with Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp. Kovacevic claimed that Heard should have been a highly acclaimed star after Aquaman, released in 2018 and made over one billion dollars.
Amber Heard confirms that her screentime in Aquaman 2 has been cut down
Earlier this week, Amber Heard confirmed that she was released from her Aquaman contract in the trial. She added that she “fought to stay in it, and they kept me in it.”
She added in the courtroom:
“I don't know if I will even be in the final cut or how much I will be. It was difficult to stay in the movie.”
The Texas native added that her final scenes in the movie were a “very pared=down version of that role.” The actress plays Princess Mera alongside Aquaman star Jason Momoa. She added:
“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. They basically took a bunch out of my role. They just removed a bunch.”
The Never Back Down actress also alleged that her screentime had been cut to 10 minutes in the sequel, released in March 2023.
As “fan pressure” to remove Heard from the sequel reached its peak, one of the movie’s producers, Peter Safran, spoke about the issue to Deadline in July 2021. He said:
“I don’t think that we’re ever going to react to, honestly, to just pure fan pressure…Because, you know, you’ve gotta do what you feel is best for the movie. We felt that if it’s James Wan and Jason Momoa, it should be Amber Heard. And that’s really what it was.”
It seems like movie producers and ardent fans of the series have reached a middle ground where Heard has not been canned from the movie altogether but her screentime has been drastically reduced.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will be hitting theatres on March 17, 2023. The final week of the ongoing defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp will begin today.
