Amber Heard: ‘I’ve done the best I could without the luxury of being picky’

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Amber Heard covers the January issue of Glamour Magazine to promote her role in Aquaman. The profile is actually okay, meaning that she comes across well, like she’s turned a page on all of Johnny Depp’s bullsh-t and she’s not going to fight those battles anymore. She’s still careful not to say his name or answer direct questions about him, likely because she’s still sticking with the non-disclosure agreement (Depp, on the other hand, has violated the NDA several times). You can read the full Glamour cover story here. Some highlights:

On her role in Aquaman: “You have to maintain a vigorous imagination while being suspended 25 feet in the air, acting with very little around you that resembles the world that will be depicted when it comes out…I’m not gagging to get back in that suit.”

She was a Texas pageant girl: “Pageants are weird,” she admits when I ask how she feels about it now, “and I can’t support the objectification.”

On her beauty & her career: “I’ve done the best I could without the luxury of being picky. There’s an implicit apology expected of me for my participation in feminine beauty, but I can’t play into this false narrative that my sexuality is mutually exclusive from my power. My physical appearance, no matter how it affects others, is solely the responsibility of people around me. You know, male characters in movies included. It is their responsibility, not a woman’s. My sexuality, my femininity, in whatever way I want to express it, is mine and my own.”

On women coming forward to tell their stories: “When a woman comes forward, she will be met with skepticism, hostility, and shame. All a man has to do is point to an incentive. He will. Or society will.”

The era of Trump means she’s more politically active: “My job provides me with a platform. Silence is complacency.”

On Christine Blasey Ford: “I was in my hotel room in New York, and I was immediately nailed to the floor in a puddle of tears. We as women took a collective punch to the gut.” A week later she joined Rise and a group of survivors in D.C. to appeal to Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, the only Republican on the committee who lobbied for an FBI investigation into Ford’s allegations. “It took a moment for him to realize I did not want a selfie with him. I thanked him. I told him that in my life I have done the unpopular thing: go up against a powerful system. It takes grace and bravery; it can feel lonely and terrifying.” A week later Sen. Flake voted to confirm Kavanaugh. “He chose not to face it, I guess. And the results are… I guess you can see the results.”

[From Glamour]

“I’ve done the best I could without the luxury of being picky. There’s an implicit apology expected of me for my participation in feminine beauty, but I can’t play into this false narrative that my sexuality is mutually exclusive from my power.” That’s an interesting way to talk about it, I guess. Jessica Biel got a lot of sh-t, years ago, for basically saying that she was “too pretty” to get good roles. Amber is sliding up to that too, that maybe her hotness has led people to typecast her as “the hot blonde” in movie after movie, but she’s also acknowledging that her hotness/beauty gives her power too. That being said, chica wasn’t typecast as “the hot girl” because of her beauty. She was typecast that way because she’s a terrible actress and that’s all she’s capable of, standing around and preening. I’m saying that as someone who likes her too – but good God, she’s a terrible actress. Her “acting” success is directly related to her beauty rather than her skill.

World Premiere of 'Aquaman' - Arrivals

Cover courtesy of Glamour, additional photos courtesy of WENN.

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29 Responses to “Amber Heard: ‘I’ve done the best I could without the luxury of being picky’”

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  1. Fluffy says:

    Nonetheless, she is a celebrity and you have to admire her for donating the financial settlement from her ex. Total class. I also love what she say’s about “silence equaling complacency.” I have been trying to explain this to my significant other for over a year, vis-a-vis Emperor ZeroCheeto. We are going to a luncheon at one of his family members, quite soon, who are all Republican. I plan to click my slippers three times while saying, “I am a guest in their home…I am a guest in their home.” I know that nice people do not create scenes. I just want to throw a glass of wine at all of them and ask “How can you be so fucking stupid?!??”

  2. Darla says:

    I am pulling for Amber.

  3. MTS says:

    I don’t think she’s a terrible actress. In The Danish Girl she almost stole the show in her few scenes, but she doesn’t have much access to these meaty roles where she could be wild and beautiful without apologies, which it also happened in that boredom of The Rum Diary, where she was the highlight of the movie.
    Still many of us don’t care if she’s good or bad actress, because we want her to succeed because that would be best message of resilience to victims around the world. After the misogyny and abuses she endure from people, she rises, she prevails. Good luck with Aquaman!

    • Lala11_7 says:

      I was JUST about to say the EXACT same thing! I think she was MAGNIFICENT in “The Danish Girl”…and proved to me that…given the right material…THE GIRL CAN ACT!

    • Grant says:

      Yeah, I agree. I don’t think she’s terrible at all.

    • Case says:

      Totally agreed. In some performances she has been a bit awkward (she actually seems a bit awkward IRL too), but for the most part I’ve very much enjoyed her in films and find her acting to be quite natural and real. I used to love The Rum Diary and thought she was lovely in it, but that brings up a weird set of emotions now, unfortunately.

      When she’s given good material, I think she’s mesmerizing. She’s stunning and has a true presence.

  4. Steph says:

    To all the people saying shes a terrible actress yesterday , I just saw aquaman and she was ok. She didn’t have much to worked with but I thought she did pretty good. And I saw an interview with her speaking Spanish and I respect her even more. She had trouble speaking it, but I loved that she tried her best.

  5. Jegede says:

    “She was typecast that way because she’s a terrible actress and that’s all she’s capable of, standing around and preening. I’m saying that as someone who likes her too – but good God, she’s a terrible actress”. –

    Mic drop. Nothing needs to be added.

    Who can forget the Palm Springs Award to ‘Amanda Heard’?
    Her privilege has helped her enormously.

    I can’t think of a female celeb who has not even had a hit TV show and then consistently fronted critically rimmed flop movies non-stop, then been awarded a DECU contract. Amazing.

  6. Amide says:

    That trope of ‘I’m too beautiful and folks can’t handle it’ so irritates me.😔
    Beautiful women like Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, et al are managing to do good things critically and commercially because the talent is actually there.
    The pretentious word salad Heard is adopting to defend her floppage after 15 years in the biz is 😝

    • uninspired username says:

      Charlize has complained about her appearance allegedly being a hindrance.

    • BorderMollie says:

      Robbie is a good comparison as she’s equally beautiful and blonde, but does lots of acclaimed work. Speaking from experience as an attractive person, there are judgements that suck but they pale in comparison to the benefits. Amber rubs me the wrong way.

    • Martin says:

      There’s enough actresses (including Theron) have set up production companies and said something like “this was the only way I could get good roles” for me to believe it’s part of the problem.

  7. asdf ert wreetra says:

    I don’t think she’s terrible. She was great in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane

    • BaronSamedi says:

      I was JUST going to come here to say the exact same thing! I remember seeing that movie and thinking that this girl had a great career ahead of her. Of course that had a lot to do with how absolutely stunning she looks but that’s just show business.

      I think she said something really smart and utterly true here that some people may not want to hear because of the ingrained reflex to immediately discount anything a woman with her obvious privilege says.

      I remember all the claims of her being a golddigger when she got together with Johnny Depp and how at first not even many women were willing to believe her story. I think that absolutely has something to do with her incredible looks. It’s the Meghan Fox thing all over again – she’s not a ‘girl’s girl’ she’s not very approachable on top of her looks and it makes the claws come out.

      • uninspired username says:

        Her looks had something to do with that but I also think her bisexuality did. People tend to not trust them.

  8. otaku fairy says:

    “There’s an implicit apology expected of me for my participation in feminine beauty, but I can’t play into this false narrative that my sexuality is mutually exclusive from my power. My physical appearance, no matter how it affects others, is solely the responsibility of people around me. You know, male characters in movies included. It is their responsibility, not a woman’s. My sexuality, my femininity, in whatever way I want to express it, is mine and my own.”

    A-freaking-men. No apologies to the religious right, MRA’s, or ‘feminists’ for it. Women who choose respectability politics aren’t expected to self-flagellate, so why should anyone else? It is not our responsibility as women to be ‘more careful’ about our looks or ‘reputations’ so men or others will behave better. #SlutWalk4ever. The rest of what she said was awesome too.

  9. Miles says:

    Umm the majority of women in Hollywood are beautiful. Beautiful in different ways of course but they’re all deemed beautiful. Very few women get roles in Hollywood unless they’re pretty (can’t say the same for men). So I’m not sure what she’s talking about in regards to her not getting roles because of her beauty. She probably doesn’t get that many roles or good roles because there’s other beautiful blondes in Hollywood who also have other factors going for them ie talent, connections or they have a good record with having hit TV shows/hit movies.

    • Amide says:

      Exactly.👊👍
      I mean, Teresa Palmer is a beautiful blonde actress, who somehow manages to show her talent in hits, without being held ‘prisoner of her beauty’ by outside forces.

      Heard’s Rotten Tomato history says it all.
      I’m trying to think of a minority actress starring in a flow of flops like Syrup, Paranoia, or London Fields as the lead then getting more roles and endless fashion covers. #privilegeisreal😪

  10. Case says:

    I like Amber a lot. Does she have side-eye worthy behavior sometimes? Yes. But I’ve been rooting for her from the moment she came out with her accusations against Depp. I will always believe her. I very much admire how she uses her platform to help social causes she cares about, and think she’s a smart cookie, too. I’ll happily see Aquaman in support of her, even if it’s a disaster, lol.

  11. Grant says:

    This “she’s a terrible actress” thing has got to stop. I don’t even care about Amber Heard but it just rubs me the wrong way when I keep reading that in these comments. It feels a little misogynistic to me. I actually saw a screener for Aquaman and she was one of the brightest spots in a solidly OK movie. She’s better than Jason Momoa, yet I don’t hear anyone criticizing his acting abilities. Mera is one bad b!tch and the role required Amber to have gravitas and express a variance of emotions throughout the film; Jason is basically tuned to his default setting of “surly bro” from start to finish. She’s no Meryl Streep but she’s hardly a terrible actress.

    • Raven says:

      Why are people mot allowed to have an opinion and to think that she’s a terrible actress?

      You must not have been reading the Aquaman post here because a lot of people have criticized Jason acting. Majority of the people criticizing her acting actually like her. Just because you like someone doesn’t mean you have to falsify skills you don’t believe they have.

      Superhero movies don’t require good acting the standard is usually mediocre-at-best so there that.

    • Jane says:

      Seriously? People call Momoa a terrible actor all the time. Because he is.

      I’ve seen Aquaman. As always, Heard is painfully one-note.

  12. stormsmama says:

    I don’t think she’s saying she’s too pretty to get good roles
    I think she’s saying she has done the best she could with what she could get
    She can’t be picky like Keira Knightley or Emma Stone or others who have the luxury of saying no to roles
    Theres nothing wrong with her admitting that
    I think whether you think she is a good actor or not is not the point
    She is actually owning her part in her career and also not apologizing for what has lead her to where she is
    I think she has shown consistency and bravery in an industry that pits women against women and makes most women pay a crushing price for speaking against the system or seeming “ungrateful”

  13. tealily says:

    “When a woman comes forward, she will be met with skepticism, hostility, and shame. All a man has to do is point to an incentive. He will. Or society will.” Right???

  14. mela says:

    I never bought the gold digger thing (I have been in age gap relationships like her and Depp so I guess I might be projecting).

    I think she is intelligent when she speaks on womans issues and I believe her abuse claims and find her incredibly brave.

    As an abuse survivor, her sentiments on abuse ring very very real and true to me. I believe she is sincere.

  15. Nopseky says:

    “but I can’t play into this false narrative that my sexuality is mutually exclusive from my power.” *cough* *BULLSHIT* She’s the beacon of entitled white woman privilege – “but I’m white and lovely, WHY WON’T YOU CAST ME?!” If she was a PoC, or looked like Lena Dunham, she wouldn’t have even gotten a sniff at the Aquaman lead, so cut it out with the “don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” schtick when her acting ability is mediocre at best.