Amber Heard Doesn't Want to Be Hollywood's Sex Object Anymore: ''It's Incredibly Frustrating''

"It's been what I've fought for since the first day on the scene," she tells Indie Wire

By Bruna Nessif Apr 25, 2015 12:42 AMTags
Amber HeardRob Kim/Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival

Amber Heard is gorgeous. That is not new information.

But Johnny Depp's leading lady doesn't want her looks to overshadow her talent, and unfortunately, that's been the case during most of her career.

While promoting her upcoming film When I Live My Life Over Again at the Tribeca Film Festival, the 29-year-old explained during an interview with Indie Wire that she's especially fond of her role in the movie for the simple fact that she's not over-sexualized, like some of her previous roles.

"I know, 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., so they're far less interesting qualities to bear in a movie or to take on within a character," she said.

"So for me, I fought really hard to find roles that weren't defined by their sexuality. However, I haven't, in the reverse, shied away from roles like that," Heard continues.

"I haven't run away from it, but I've sought to do more with them and sought to do more with ones that weren't like that at all. The frustrating thing is I finally get to do a movie where I'm a person—a flawed, vulnerable complex character that has a full range of traits, experiences, reactions, emotional reactions and it doesn't matter how she looks."

The star goes into detail about the dichotomy women in the industry face and how frustrating it can be when one tries to portray a variety of characters.

"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.

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"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 shit, it's about a character and her issues and her problems and her journey."

Heard later adds, "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 fucked 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."

The Robert Edwards-helmed film tells the story of a struggling singer-songwriter (Heard) who escapes to the Hamptons home of her father (Christopher Walken), an over-the-hill crooner desperately charting his own musical comeback.