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Johnny Depp Testifies He Helped Amber Heard Land ‘Aquaman’ Role

Johnny Depp on Wednesday testified in his defamation trial against Amber Heard that he helped secure for his ex-wife her breakthrough role as Mera in Aquaman by talking to Warner Bros. executives who were concerned about Heard’s legal troubles in Australia, where the movie was shot.

Heard in 2016 was prosecuted in Australia for illegally bringing her dogs into the country. The charges were dropped in exchange for Heard pleading guilty to making a false customs declaration by indicating that she had no animals when she arrived.

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Heard has testified that Depp didn’t help her secure a spot in the DC movie, to which her ex-husband responded, “It’s not exactly true.”

After Heard auditioned for Warner Bros. in 2015, Depp said that Heard was anxious about Warner Bros.’ concerns about whether she would be able to shoot in Australia. She asked him to speak to the studio, he recounted.

“I made a phone call, and I spoke to three upper-echelon Warner executives, Kevin Tsujihara, Sue Kroll, Greg Silverman,” Depp said.

The actor added, “I can only say that, ultimately, she did get the job in the film. Hopefully, I had curbed their worries to some degree.”

On Tuesday, DC Films chief Walter Hamada testified that Heard’s Mera in Aquaman was almost recast due to “chemistry” issues with leading man Jason Momoa. He said that “there were conversations about potentially recasting” Heard in the Aquaman sequel, but not because of her legal battle with Depp.

The testimony clashed with Heard’s claim that she was almost kicked off the movie because of her ex-husband portraying her abuse allegations as a hoax.

Depp was slated to be called as a witness Monday during Heard’s case in chief, which rested Tuesday, but did not end up taking the stand. The trial will end with closing statements Friday.

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