Celebrity
Amber Heard Only Kept Her Role In Aquaman 2 Because Jason Momoa Was ‘Adamant’ She Remain
“As many hits as he’s had a lot of failures,” Arnold of Depp.
The day 20th of Depp and Heard’s defamation trial saw Kathryn Arnold, an Ex-Hollywood producer, now an entertainment industry consultant, and expert, as a witness. She evaluated Depp’s claims for damages due to Heard’s op-ed, and the actress’s claims for damages hinged on comments from Depp’s lawyer about her allegations being a hoax.
Arnold pointed out the film Aquaman was Heard’s a star is born moment, but instead of it being a springboard for her career, she got nearly axed.
She then claimed the 36-Year-Old kept her role as MERA only because Jason Momoa, Heard’s co-star, and the film’s director James Wan committed to her and were adamant she remains in the movie. Arnold said the first draft of Aquaman 2 saw the character Mera had a strong romantic arc the whole film and some great action sequences.
The expert continued that Heard trained 5 hours a day for several months to do the sequence, but just as she got to the set, a costume designer informed her that her role had been reduced.
“The action sequence had cut out, and her role was radially reduced,” Arnold shared. While reports had claimed the lack of chemistry between Heard and Momoa was to be blamed for her role being diminished, Arnold didn’t agree to it and stated further that Momoa was able to renegotiate his salary for Aquaman 2 from $3million to $15million but that Heard was unable to do the same.
“She was fighting for her life to be in the film and was paid the same $2million as stated in her original contract,” Arnold said, adding that Heard should have been able to renegotiate to as much as $6million.
“Heard’s reputation has been very negative among the public and Hollywood. They like her work, but they can’t work with her because every time her name is mentioned, the negativity flares up.” Arnold continued that right now, it doesn’t make sense for Hollywood to hire Heard and that her world has been silent in terms of opportunities. Of Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman’s comment that Heard’s allegations were a hoax, the expert said the actress’s losses from it are between $45M and $50M.
Arnold shared that for 5years, Heard had earned at least $4million per movie, although it would have likely been more than that if not for the negativity.
“Heard would have got around four other deals like her contract with L’Oréal, which brought her $1.5million, making a total of $8million. On top of that would have been TV deals and Heard’s last such production was The Stand where she earned $1.8milion for nine episodes,” the industry consultant explained. When asked who caused the damages to Depp, Arnold said it was the actor himself.
“Filing lawsuits, bringing to light the issues is Mr. Depp doing that of his own accord. Any statement by his team are associated with Mr. Depp. He’s causing his demise by bringing these lawsuits forward and continuing to ignite the fire of negative publicity around both of them.”
She added that Depp had an extraordinary career that covered many years dating back to the late 1980s when he was a rising star but that the actor began to break through when he started to work with the director Tim Burton on films like Edward Scissorhands. “At the time, his behavior on and off the set in his personal and professional life started to interfere with his great talent. It started in 2006 to 2010 when his behavior started affecting his work in terms of lateness on set.”
Arnold insisted Depp’s agent found it difficult to get roles due to Depp’s drinking and drug abuse and other issues in his personal life and that things became even harder after 2010 when Depp was doing films like Murder on the Orient Express and Mortdecai.
She insisted the mood in Hollywood started to shift against Depp during the filming of Pirates 5 in 2015 and that his lawsuits had a big impact on his reputation, including one which alleged he punched a location manager on the set of the movie City of Lies. “Pirates 5 did not do as well at the box office as the previous films, and even before then, Depp had starred in four or five bombs films that did not do very well such as the Lone Ranger. As many hits as he’s had a lot of failures.”
