Amber Heard: Its incredibly frustrating & unfulfilling to play sexy roles

Publish date: 2024-04-25

Amber Heard

Amber Heard is currently plugging her new movie, When I Live My Life Over Again, which features her as a punk rock singer (alongside Christopher Walken). I guess she and Johnny Depp are perfectly fine now. They’ve always had a strange relationship (even before it officially began), so this is really no different from the usual weirdness. Maybe they’ll soon make a hundred babies like Johnny once boasted. Johnny is 51 now, but maybe he has the energy to deal with diapers.

Amber has a new interview with E! Online to talk about women in Hollywood. She says this punk-rock role is a well-rounded one, unlike most parts. I can’t judge because I haven’t watched all of Amber’s filmography (only Syrup, All of the Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Rum Diary, and some horror remake). She played tough-yet-sexy in all of those movies. Hollywood promotes that conceit. If you’re a tough woman, you also have to flash some flesh. Amber always wanted to be the next Jolie, so she gravitated towards films where she played “hot girl with triceps wearing a tank top.” Now Amber talks about being frustrated with her decade-long run in Hollywood, which hasn’t led to more substantial roles:

On finding less sexy roles: “It’s been what I’ve fought for since the first day on the scene. Superficial is far less interesting primarily because it’s the result of things that are out of my control, so it’s independent of one’s character and how one looks. It can help define one’s character but looks in and of themselves are not the result of any hard work, bravery, substance, etc. I fought really hard to find roles that weren’t defined by their sexuality.”

You can’t be taken seriously if you’re sexy: “I’ve been in this business for 12 years or something and it’s incredibly frustrating to be able to just now be trusted or given roles like this because this industry’s very hard on women, because you’re constantly asked to choose between one of two archetypes: sexy or not. And within the ‘not,’ you perhaps can acquire for yourself a few different traits, but they’re going to be severely limited. The story’s not going to be about you. In the former, it’s completely unfulfilling work to undergo and it’s not fulfilling for an audience to watch. It’s incredible frustrating that a system is in place where you have to choose one or the other. I should not have to choose to be taken seriously or to be beautiful. I finally get to do a role without any of that sh*t, it’s about a character and her issues and her problems and her journey.”

The industry’s problem: “I try to find ways to make my characters stronger, independent. I’ve always chosen strong women, smart women, I’ve always chosen to protect myself as best I can, but the really f***ed up thing is that nobody has any incentive in this industry to invest in something other than what can be seen in you or what’s the easiest thing to do.”

[From E! Online

I do feel for Amber because she describes the plight of many actresses. She nabs the “sexy sidekick” or “object of desire” roles. Victory is bittersweet. Amber recently entered her late 20s, and she’s finally been named a rising star. She’s still appearing alongside 60-year-old “action dudes” like Kevin Costner. Leading men and younger love interests are completely typical of Hollywood standards. Amber has room to complain about those silly stereotypes. At the same time … she needs to realize how she reinforces those standards in real life by marrying a decades-older guy like Johnny Depp.

Amber also previously complained about superficiality as she posed for a sex-ay shoot. Amber’s a little shortsighted, but perhaps she’s taking after a certain someone who whined about how actor-musicians make him “sick“ as he formed a rock supergroup with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry.

Amber Heard

Amber Heard

Amber Heard

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News & WENN

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