A prominent face in Hollywood, Amber Heard has appeared in several popular movies and music videos, which has contributed to her net worth. Take a look at the actress’s career and journey — from her modelling days to her tumultuous marriage and high-profile separation from ex-husband Johnny Depp portrayed in the 2023 Netflix documentary, Depp v. Heard.
Amber Laura Heard was born on 22 April 1986 to Patricia Paige Heard, an internet researcher and David Clinton Heard, a contractor in Austin, Texas. She has a younger sister Whitney Heard.
Always eager to be on stage and in front of the camera, Heard began participating in beauty pageants from a very young age. However, when her best friend passed away in a car accident, she dropped out of a Catholic high school at 16, became an atheist and moved to New York for modelling gigs. The acting bug in her made her shift to Los Angeles later.
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What is Amber Heard’s net worth?
Met with several box-office successes and critical acclaim, Amber Heard amassed a sizeable net worth. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the actress has a fortune of USD 500,000, as of 2023. While reports suggest she made around USD 10.5 million between 2013 and 2019, the long-standing feud with Depp, the expensive defamation case and the televised trial have had an impact on her income and assets.
Earlier in December 2022, Parade had estimated her net worth to be around USD 2.5 million. However, another New Zealand Herald story cited a June 2022 Fox Business report, which quoted her estimated net worth to be USD 8 million.
Heard’s reported monthly expenses account for about USD 10,000. However, according to Parade, the documents made public during the 2022 trial, revealed her monthly expenditure amounted to around USD 43,000 at that time. It reportedly includes rent, holidays, gifts, dining out and other expenses to maintain her lifestyle.
More about Amber Heard’s net worth, acting career, music videos, lawsuits and expensive assets
Heard started with music videos before her silver screen debut
Following a slew of beauty pageants, Heard appeared in a few music videos before foraying into the acting world. Most notable of them include rock band Eisley’s “I Wasn’t Prepared” and Kenny Chesney’s “There Goes My Life” in 2004.
These were followed by minor character roles in Jack & Bobby (2004), The Mountain (2004) and The OC (2005). Heard made her film debut with a prominent supporting role in the 2004 sports drama Friday Night Lights. The following year, she was seen in the Academy-Award-nominated movie North Country, where she played a younger version of Charlize Theron’s character, Josey. Heard also stepped into the role of Candy in Drop Dead Sexy around the same time.
In 2006, Heard appeared in Alpha Dog starring Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde and Sharon Stone. It was followed by her portrayal of Trish in Price To Pay the same year. However, her first lead role in a film arrived in 2006 with the thriller title All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, which premiered at the year’s Toronto Film Festival.
Heard’s climb to Hollywood success
The year 2007 saw Amber Heard dabbling in bigger projects. Besides her role as Greta in CBS’s Hidden Palms (2007) and guest appearance in Showtime’s Californication (2007), she gained mainstream success with the hit stoner comedy Pineapple Express (2008). She played Seth Rogen’s young love interest, Angie Anderson, before appearing in the 2008 martial arts drama, Never Back Down.
Since then, Heard’s acting career has been on an upward graph. The Joneses (2009), starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny, came as a big title in her filmography and earned her a Young Hollywood Award in the Breakthrough Performance category. From The Zombieland (2009) to horror thriller The Stepfather (2009), her comparatively minor yet notable gigs made Heard a recognisable face in Hollywood.
She also starred in a number of independent films such as ExTerminators (2009), The River Why (2010), And Soon the Darkness (2010) and The Ward (2010). Her net worth gained momentum when she reportedly made around USD 45,000 from Paranoia (2013) and over USD 31,000 from The Danish Girl (2015).
These projects paved her way to higher fame and the American actress soon began carving her way to share the screen with acclaimed actors.
Amber Heard in The Rum Diary and linkup with Johnny Depp
In 2011, Heard landed another breakthrough role when she starred as Chenault in The Rum Diary co-starring Depp. The film was based on a 1998 novel by Hunter S Thompson.
Although the movie raked mixed reviews, it sparked conjectures about Heard and Depp’s alleged linkups. At that time, Depp was still seeing French singer Vanessa Paradis, while Heard was with American painter Tasya van Ree. While news about their alleged romance began taking flight during the filming in 2009, it wasn’t until the two set off for the press tour in 2011 that they began dating.
Amber Heard’s Justice League earnings
Heard propelled her acting career and net worth significantly when she forayed into the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) as Mera in Justice League (2017). The film was started by Zack Snyder but taken forward by director Joss Whedon after Snyder stepped down due to personal reasons. The ensemble cast included Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Henry Cavill and Ezra Miller as the DC superhero brigade.
In 2022, she told Vanity Fair, “I signed on to do Justice League, where my character was introduced.” She added, “The fee is small relative to what it will become if and when you do the other options or movies under that umbrella. So it was the contract for Justice League, which could then become Justice League 2, or it could be Aquaman or it could be some other movie within the DC Universe. And the second picture ended up being Aquaman, and the third was Aquaman 2. And each time the fee goes up.”
Her salary from both Justice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) is not known but since Cavill and Gadot took home around USD 300,000, it is likely Heard made a five-figure cheque as her role was small.
How much Amber Heard made from the Aquaman films
Amber Heard’s net worth saw a solid boost in 2018 when she reprised her role as Mera in the next DCEU film, Aquaman (2018). She revealed making USD 1 million and received other bonuses and perks from the film profits.
However, even after such memorable box-office successes, her rise was brought to a screeching halt with the Depp defamation case.
For the sequel, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (2023), Heard collected a fee of USD 2 million. She describes the film, where she reportedly has just about 10 minutes of screen time, as a “very pared-down version” of what Warner Bros. had initially shared. Due to the televised trial, Heard even said, the production behemoth “didn’t want to include” her.
“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 spoiler away — two characters fighting with one another, and they basically took a bunch out of my role,” Heard told Vanity Fair.
Amber Heard’s brand endorsements
Apart from her onscreen work, Heard earns from brand endorsements. In 2015, she reportedly earned USD 120,000 from the jewellery brand Tiffany and USD 50,000 from Bvlgari.
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In 2018, Heard was appointed as an ambassador of cosmetics giant L’Oréal Paris. The announcement was made at the year’s Cannes Film Festival, where she participated in the brand’s “The Worth It Show.” Through her contract, she appeared on the makeup label’s shows and was also seen at the 2021 Paris Fashion Week. During her defamation proceedings, the actress claimed allegations by Depp had smeared her reputation and attempted to get her off the project.
Some of Heard’s other brand collaborations include Revlon, Calvin Klein, David Yurman and Pantene.
Amber Heard’s house
Heard seems to have quite a penchant for lavish homes and has made some luxury purchases over the years.
She bought her California mansion in 2019 for USD 570,000. Situated in Yucca Valley, the three-bedroom and three-bathroom estate covered an area of 227.6 sq m. It featured solid iron front doors, a kitchen with a double griddle stove and wiring for the whole-home surround stereo system. Stunning views of the mountains, a gazebo and gorgeous spacious interiors made it a dreamy abode. Nearly two months after the 2022 defamation case, she sold it for USD 1.05 million.
According to TMZ, during the trial period, Heard was residing in a plush Virginia apartment, which had a rent tag of USD 22,500 per month. Reports also suggest she had a mansion in Virginia, which was a nearly 25-minute drive from the Fairfax Country Courthouse. Covering an area of nearly 1207 sq m, the property had eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and a large dining room to accommodate at least 10 people. A tennis court, games room, movie theatre and sprawling gardens completed it.
Her luxury car collection
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Over the years, Heard has shown her love for luxury cars and her garage is studded with some robust beasts. A Tesla Model S, worth USD 120,000 is a prime example. One of the fastest-growing environment-friendly EVs, the basic model is equipped with a dual-electric motor AWD configuration that exerts a pressure of 577 hp and 650 Nm of peak power and torque, allowing the car to reach over 96 km/h in three seconds.
A Range Rover Sport, worth USD 110,000, is also a part of her fleet. The swanky car is powered by a 5-litre supercharged V8 engine which generates a pressure of 565 hp and 700 Nm torque. This powerful machine can reach 96 km/h in just 6.2 seconds.
A1968 Ford Mustang, worth USD 87,000; a BMW 7-series worth USD 85,000, a Mercedes S-Class worth USD 82,000 and two Dodge Chargers worth USD 57,000 and USD 38,000, are part of her diverse fleet.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s divorce and money pledged
Actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard got engaged in 2014. They got married a year later, but the whirlwind romance did not last long as she filed for divorce in 2016. According to PEOPLE, the actress said, “Johnny has a long-held and widely-acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse.”
“He has a short fuse. He is often paranoid and his temper is extremely scary for me as it has proven many times to be physically dangerous and/or life-threatening to me,” she added and cited a violent incident during her 30th birthday in 2016, where he allegedly pulled her hair and thrashed her against the floor.
Eventually, in 2017, after the settlement was decided, Depp paid an alimony of USD 7 million. Though the amount added to her net worth, she decided to not have any of it. She even said in a statement at that time, “As described in the restraining order and divorce settlement, money played no role for me personally and never has, except to the extent that I could donate it to charity and, in doing so, hopefully, help those less able to defend themselves.”
Heard pledged to donate it to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and other charitable organisations to help end violence against women. It was revealed during her trial that Heard did not donate the entire USD 3.5 million allocated for the ACLU and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Instead, ACLU received just a fraction of USD 1.3 million, which reportedly includes USD 100,000 from Depp and USD 500,000 from a Vanguard account, believed to be from Heard’s former partner, Elon Musk.
Heard’s donations to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles remain unknown, although PEOPLE reported in 2018 that the Magic Mike XXL (2015) actress was honoured for donating in the slab between USD 1 million and USD 4,999,999 million.
The 2022 defamation lawsuit
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Things started taking an ugly turn when Depp filed a libel case against News Group Newspapers (NGN), which publishes The Sun, over a 2018 article with the headline, “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife-beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”
Three years later, when the case went to trial, Depp lost and was denied the right to appeal again. However, matters did not end here. In 2018, she wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post. The following year, Depp filed a USD 50 million defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard.
The case was based on three statements she issued: “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”; “Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out” and “I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real-time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
The op-ed did not name Depp, but his lawyers argued it was a direct reference to the 2016 allegations where the actress said that he used drugs and was physically abusive. In response to his lawsuit, Heard filed a counter-defamation case worth USD 100 million. An openly televised trial followed in 2022 and the jury found Heard’s claims “were made with actual malice,” said Courthouse News Service.
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The outlet said, “Jurors awarded Depp USD 10 million in compensatory damages and USD 5 million in punitive damages, the latter of which was reduced by the judge to the statutory maximum of USD 350,000. Depp’s total award came to USD 10.3 million.” The Pirates Of The Caribbean star was also ordered to pay Heard USD 2 million for defaming her in one instance.
She did not pay the entire USD 10.3 million and by December 2022, Depp accepted USD 1 million payout to settle the case.
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The case and hefty financial costs drained Heard of her net worth. It reduced her fortune and even took a toll on her brand endorsements and movies. This trial form the inspiration for the Netflix documentary Depp v. Heard, which was released on 16 August 2023.
Personal life and baby
Following her bitter divorce with Depp, Heard was linked with Tesla and X chief, Musk in 2016. The two were often spotted together before they made their relationship official in 2017. While they allegedly broke up four months later, they kept seeing each other occasionally before calling it quits in 2018. After that, Heard was linked with cinematographer Bianca Butti, whom she had been dating since January 2020. However, she made the decision to have a baby on her own.
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On 8 April 2021, she welcomed her daughter, Oonagh Paige, via surrogacy. They live in Madrid after the trial and Heard’s Instagram is filled with her photos. She is “proud” to be Oonagh’s sole legal parent, according to Page Six.
(Hero and feature image: Courtesy Amber Heard/ Instagram)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– What is Amber Heard’s net worth right now?
According to ‘Celebrity Net Worth,’ Amber Heard has a net worth of USD 500,000, as of 2023.
– What is Amber Heard’s net worth in 2023?
Amber Heard’s net worth reportedly stands at USD 500,000 in 2023, reports ‘Celebrity Net Worth.’
– How much did Amber Heard get paid for ‘Aquaman’?
According to ‘Vanity Fair’ Amber Heard revealed she made USD 1 million from ‘Aquaman’ in 2018.
– Is Amber Heard still in ‘Aquaman 2’?
Amber Heard reprises her role as Mera in ‘Aquaman 2’, titled ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ It is slated to release in December 2023.
This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia India
