DC Films Boss Testifies Why Amber Heard Lost 'A Bunch' Of Scenes In Aquaman 2

The President of DC Film has quashed claims that Amber Heard was nearly let go from the Aquaman sequel over her legal battles with ex-husband Johnny Depp.

Heard previously told the court: "I had to fight really hard to keep my career after I got my [restraining order against Depp].

"I fought to keep my job and the biggest movie opportunity I had to date [with] Justice League with the option to [star in] Aquaman."

She added that film executives cut a significant chunk from her role as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

"They just removed a bunch out," Heard testified.

But now, Walter Hamada, who also serves as the executive producer for Aquaman and the sequel, has told the court in Virginia that her claims are incorrect.

Hamada instead revealed why Heard saw a number of her scenes wind up on the cutting room floor.

"They didn’t have a lot of chemistry together," Hamada said.

"The reality is it’s not uncommon in movies for two leads to not have chemistry and it’s sort of movie magic and editorial - the ability to put performances with the magic of a great score and how you put the pieces together, you can fabricate that chemistry."

Hamada admitted it may have seemed like Jason Momoa and Heard had on-screen chemistry in the first Aquaman film, but it was hard to achieve.

"I just know that through the course of post-production, it took a lot of effort to get there. Sometimes you just put characters together on the screen and they work. It’s like what makes a movie star a movie star. You know it when you see it," he said.

He added: "The chemistry wasn’t there … This one was more difficult because of the lack of chemistry between the two."

When the DC chief was asked if Heard's role was 'reduced', Hamada said that was not the case. 

He did say that from the very early stages of development the sequel was always going to be a 'buddy comedy' between Aquaman and his half-brother King Orm, instead of a romantic co-lead movie like the first film.

Heard has tried to insinuate that her career has also been affected following the details of their marriage and messy divorce being made public.

Depp launched the defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife after Heard claimed she was a survivor of domestic abuse in a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post. 

The two actors started dating after meeting on the set of 2011 film The Rum Diary and were married in 2015.

Things soon fell apart and Heard obtained a restraining order against Depp the following year and they finalised their divorce in 2017.

In 2020, Depp lost a libel case brought against The Sun over an article in which he was labelled a 'wife beater'.

The US defamation trial enters its sixth and final week at Virginia's Fairfax County Circuit Court, with proceedings set to wrap up on May 27.

Although the trial was supposed to end last week, the date was extended to make room for new testimonies and evidence.

The jury will have the final say after the closing statements are made.