Biography
Date of Birth
22 December 1986, Austin, Texas, USA
Birth Name
Amber Laura Heard
Height
5' 7" (1.7 m)
Mini Biography
Amber Laura Heard was born in Austin, Texas, to Patricia Paige Heard (née Parsons), an internet researcher, and David C. Heard (David Clinton Heard), a contractor. She has English, Irish, Scottish, German, and Welsh ancestry.
Heard appeared in the Academy Award-nominated film, North Country (2005), in which she played Charlize Theron's character in flashbacks. Her other early film credits include: Syrup (2013), Drive Angry (2011) 3D, The Joneses (2009), Never Back Down (2008), Alpha Dog (2006) and Friday Night Lights (2004). On television, Heard starred on The CW drama, Hidden Palms (2007), and had guest starring roles on Showtime's Californication (2007) and CBS's Criminal Minds (2005).
In 2009, Heard starred in the box office hit, Zombieland (2009), opposite Woody Harrelson, Bill Murray and Jesse Eisenberg. She also starred in the suspense thriller, The Stepfather (2009), with Sela Ward, Dylan Walsh and Penn Badgley. In 2008, she garnered attention for her role in the comedic hit, Pineapple Express (2008), with Seth Rogen and James Franco. Heard received a 2008 Young Hollywood Award for her breakthrough performance in "Pineapple Express".
She appeared in The Rum Diary (2011), opposite Johnny Depp, and John Carpenter's The Ward (2010), which premiered at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival. She also starred in the independent film, And Soon the Darkness (2010), in which she additionally served as a co-producer.
Heard starred in Paranoia (2013), opposite Harrison Ford, Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman. The film was released by "Relativity Media" on August 16, 2013. She also starred in Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills (2013), which was released by "Open Road Films" on March 4, 2013, and McG's 3 Days to Kill (2014), opposite Kevin Costner and Hailee Steinfeld, which was released in 2014.
Additionally, her film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), which premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, was released by The Weinstein Co. in theaters in the fall of 2013.
Heard resides in Los Angeles, where she is actively involved with Amnesty International. In 2015, she married actor Johnny Depp, and the two divorced in 2017.
Trivia
Has been named one of the most beautiful rising stars by Jane Magazine, shared with Kellan Rhude.
Ranked #21 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 Women of 2008 list.
Father David C. Heard is a successful commercial contractor in Austin, Texas, and mother Paige Heard is an internet researcher.
Has two sisters.
Has a golden teacup Yorkie dog named Pistol, who was featured alongside Heard for Teen Vogue's "Young Hollywood" issue in October 2009.
Ranked #13 on Maxim magazine Hot 100 Women of 2010 list.
In December 2010 she "came out" to the crowd at the 25th anniversary celebration for GLAAD (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). She also told the website www.afterellen.com that for several years, her romantic partner has been photographer Tasya van Ree. They have since split up.
Dropped out of school at the age of 17, to go to New York to start a career in modeling, she then relocated to Los Angeles to get into acting.
At the age of 16, her best friend died in a car crash and Heard, who was raised Catholic, subsequently declared herself an atheist, due to the influence of the works of Ayn Rand and George Orwell.
Ranked #34 in the 2011 FHM list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".
Ranked #25 in the 2010 FHM UK list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".
Voted #35 on Ask men's top 99 'most desirable' women of 2012.
She has Scots-Irish (Northern Irish), English, Irish, German, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry.
In a relationship with Johnny Depp. [2013]
Engaged to Johnny Depp [January 17, 2014].
Charged with two counts of dog smuggling after illegally bringing her and Johnny Depp's dogs to Australia. For the same journey to Australia, she was charged with producing a false document relating to information on an incoming passenger card. [July 2015]
Inducted into the Texas Film of Fame on March 6,2014 in Austin, Texas.
Sister of Whitney Heard.
Was a contender for the role of Mystique in X: First Class (2011).
Donated all of her $7 million of her divorce settlement from Johnny Depp to charity.
Filed for divorce from Johnny Depp on 25th May, 2016. The following day, Heard was granted a temporary domestic violence restraining order against Depp in relation to a physical altercation between the couple. However all domestic violence claims were later dropped with prejudice meaning it can never be refiled in a court of law.
Sued for over $10 million for breach-of-contract for her new film London Fields (2018), because the actress failed to abide to her contractual obligations. These included acting in previously agreed upon scenes requiring nudity, and promotion of the film. [November 2016].
Friends with Cara Delevingne.
She does charity work and gave all the money she gained with her divorce to charity.
Paternal granddaughter of Harlin Clinton Heard (b. Oklahoma) (son of John Turner Heard and wife Luller or Lula Bell or Belle Dobbs, paternal grandson of William Paxton Heard and wife Mary Elizabeth or Isabelle or Isabell Nancy Copeland and maternal grandson of William Moore Dobbs and wife Elizabeth Casteel) and wife Wanda Edelweiss Magee (b. Indiana) (daughter of William Issac Magee and wife Edna Ethel Roach, paternal granddaughter of James Madison Magee and wife Amanda M. Spurlin and maternal granddaughter of David Chandler Roach and wife Mary Frances Cullison).
Daughter of David Clinton Heard, contractor, and wife Patricia Paige Parsons, internet researcher, and sister of Whitney Heard. Her father's ancestry includes Scots-Irish (Northern Irish), English, Scottish, and German. Her mother is of one quarter German and one quarter Irish ancestry, with her other roots being English, Scottish and Welsh. Much of Amber's family has lived in the United States of America for many generations.
Maternal granddaughter of William Joseph Parsons (b. New York) (son of Edward Breck Parsons, of English and Scottish descent, and wife Rose Neerlich (b. Germany), paternal grandson of William Henry Parsons and wife Sophia King Breck and maternal grandson of John Neerlich (b. Germany) and wife Katherine Kaulas (b. Germany)) and wife Cecilia Corrinne Carroll of Clan O'Carroll (b. Missouri) (daughter of Gerald Aloysius Carroll of Clan O'Carroll, of Irish descent, and wife Virginia Morgan McGie or McGee, paternal granddaughter of Dennis Carroll of Clan O'Carroll, of Irish descent, and wife Johanna Barry, of Irish descent, and maternal granddaughter of John McGie or McGee (b. Canada, son of Scottish parents, of some Irish descent) and wife Frances Louise Moore (b. Virginia)).
Daughter of David Clinton Heard, contractor, and wife Patricia Paige Parsons, internet researcher, and sister of Whitney Heard.
Paternal granddaughter of Harlin Clinton Heard (b. Oklahoma) (son of John Turner Heard and wife Luller or Lula Bell or Belle Dobbs, paternal grandson of William Paxton Heard and wife Mary Elizabeth or Isabelle or Isabell Nancy Copeland and maternal grandson of William Moore Dobbs and wife Elizabeth Casteel) and wife Wanda Edelweiss Magee (b. Indiana) (daughter of William Issac Magee and wife Edna Ethel Roach, paternal granddaughter of James Madison Magee and wife Amanda M. Spurlin and maternal granddaughter of David Chandler Roach and wife Mary Frances Cullison). Her patrilineal line traces back to Stephen Heard, who was born, c. 1715, in Tyrone, County Tyrone, Ulster, Ireland).
Is not related to actor John Heard, despite a popular misconception.
Trademarks:
Often plays sexualized teenagers (Friday Night Lights (2004), Alpha Dog (2006), Hidden Palms (2007), Never Back Down (2008) and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)).
Quotes
I've worked really hard to bring something more to "pretty girl" roles over the years. I consider it a challenge.
[on transitioning from modeling to acting] My father persuaded me to take classes, and my first agent in Austin paid for them. I'd always wanted to be an actress. I did it in high school and fell in love with it, but I was distracted by the modeling industry because I wanted to travel and get out of my hometown. It was the easier ticket.
[on supposedly "coming out"] First of all, to say I came out implies that I was once in. Let me be straight about that--no pun intended. I never came out from anywhere . . . It didn't really affect anything in my career. I don't think the producers and directors I've worked with care one way or another . . . I don't want to be labeled as one thing or another. In the past I've had successful relationships with men, and now I'm in this successful relationship with a woman. When it comes to love I am totally open. I don't want to be put into a category, as in "I'm this" or "I'm that".
[on her The Rum Diary (2011) character] I liked the juxtaposition--I liked that she looks like this archetype of a leading lady, this 1950s housewife-in-the-making, the kind of iconic symbol of a woman at that time, this commodity or something that represents the elite status or rather, what the elite status strives to obtain in life or what they value in life and she kind of looks like that, superficially and represents all these things very well on the surface but yet is not that underneath--she's flawed and kind of vulnerable and fiercely independent and rebellious and I relate to a lot of those qualities and like that she's not what she looks like.
I've had amazing, successful relationships with men, and now I have an amazing, successful relationship with a woman, and the bottom line is I love who I love.
We women still make up like one, maybe two percent of the directors [in Hollywood] and until we make up a bigger or I guess a more significant majority or proportion of the filmmakers or until we have a larger stake in the prospective makers, then we won't accurately accomplish that representation.
I don't take parts because they're for the sexy girl. I take the sexy girl parts and try to give them something else and make them a character. I just know that, at some point, you have to choose between the two. We didn't take Charlize Theron seriously until she did Monster (2003) and became physically ugly. I would love to see women be able to be powerful, complex, smart, opinionated and taken seriously, even if they are beautiful. Even more, I would love to see women held to different standards, other than the superficial ones that we're held to.
I am constantly struggling to show people that there is more to me than my appearance. You do have to try and overcome those hurdles. Female actresses need to be given the chance to be more than how they look. There's two categories for women in Hollywood; you're either sexy and that's it, or you're not and because of that you often get given better opportunities. You can't be sexy and get as many good roles, fact. It's so frustrating to see women compartmentalized in those ways, but it's not going to change until the amount of female filmmakers and producers get to anywhere near being half. So many female characters and stories are written by men. It's a flawed system.
I'm looking to find good stories, not big commercial pieces of work.
The last few years have been non-stop for me. I've been going from job to job without even going home in-between jobs for the last year. And I'm doing what I love. I'm enjoying the perks of the job-the travel. I am having a great time being a shape shifter and I'm really getting a kick out of it. I love my job.
