Amber Heard asks not to have “stones thrown” at her by the media

Amber Heard has asked not to have “stones thrown” at her by the media while she promotes her new film In The Fire.

Speaking to Deadline, the actress addressed how the negativity surrounding her defamation court case with ex-husband Johny Depp still affects her career.

“I’m in control for the most part of what comes out of my mouth,” she said. “What I’m not in control is how my pride in this project and all we put into this film can be surrounded by clips of other stuff. That’s a big thing I had to learn, that I’m not in control of stories other people create around me. That’s something that probably I’ll appreciate as a blessing further down the line.”

She continued: “Right now, I just kind of want to not have, you know, stones thrown at me so much. So let’s get the elephant out of the room then, and just let me say that. I am an actress. I’m here to support a movie. And that’s not something I can be sued for.”

Speaking about the direction her career has taken, she said: “It might not be obvious to other people, but I’ve been acting my whole adult life, since I was 16.

“As crazy as it sounds to say, that means I have decades in this industry. I’m not telling you I have this amazing film career, but what I have is something that I’ve made, myself, and it has given me a lot to be able to contribute. The odds of that in this industry are really improbably but somehow, here I am.

She added: “I think I’ve earned respect for that to be its own thing. That’s substantial enough. What I have been through, what I’ve lived through, doesn’t make my career at all. And it’s certainly not gonna stop my career. So let’s talk about this movie.”

In The Fire sees Heard star as Grace Burnham, a doctor from New York who travels to a remote plantation in the 1890s to care for a disturbed boy who seems to have inexplicable abilities. She attempts to treat the child, but in doing so ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy to be possessed by the Devil.

Last year, Depp sued Heard over a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post in which she wrote about being a survivor of domestic violence.

Come the end of their highly publicised court case, Heard was instructed to pay Depp $10million (£8.4m) in compensatory damages and $5million (£4.2m) in punitive damages. Heard was awarded $2million (£1.6m) after the jury found that Depp had defamed her through his attorney.

Depp has since revealed his plans to donate $1million (£782,000) of the settlement to five different charities.

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