Amber Heard

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Amber Heard

Heard at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born Amber Laura Heard
April 22, 1986 (1986-04-22) (age 23)
Austin, Texas, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 2004–present

Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role of Greta Matthews on the CW television show, Hidden Palms. She plays the lead role (and title character) in All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006 and was released theatrically in 2008.

She has also been on the cover of Maxim and played Seth Rogen's character's girlfriend in Pineapple Express. She appears in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel The Informers.

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[edit] Personal life

Heard was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Her father David is a contractor and her mother Paige is an Internet researcher for the state. She attended St. Michael's Catholic Academy in Austin until junior year, when she left to pursue a career in Hollywood. As a teenager Heard was active in her school's drama department and appeared in local commercials and campaigns. At the age of 16 her best friend died in a car crash. Heard, who was raised Catholic, now declares herself an atheist along with her boyfriend Jamie.[1] Dropping out of school at the age of 17 to go to New York to start a career in modelling, she then located to Los Angeles to get into acting. She is in a discreet relationship with Arthur Wybrands, a young French-American producer. In April 2009, rumors spreaded about a supposed engagement but were immediately infirmed by Amber Heard's representative at Hyler Management to protect their privacy.

[edit] Career

Once in Los Angeles, Heard made appearances in various TV shows. She was cast as Liz in the pilot episode of The WB's Jack & Bobby (2004), as Riley in an episode of The Mountain (2004) and she had a brief cameo as a salesgirl in The O.C. (2005). Her first movie role was Maria in Friday Night Lights (2004). She next starred as Shay in Side FX (2005), an independent horror film, and had supporting roles in Drop Dead Sexy (2005), Price to Pay (2006) and You Are Here (2006). Heard had more prominent parts in Niki Caro's North Country (2005) as young Josey and as Alma in Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog (2006). In 2006 she starred in an episode of Criminal Minds as Lila Archer, a young Hollywood actress who has a crush on Spencer Reid.

Heard was next cast in the CW Network's Hidden Palms. On the show she portrayed Greta Matthews, who suffered the losses of both her mother and boyfriend, Eddie, and befriends Johnny, the anti-hero of the show. In order to get the part, Heard was asked to lose weight. It took her four months, daily workouts and a ban on carbohydrates to lose 25 pounds. Hidden Palms premiered in the US on May 30, 2007. Ultimately, The CW wrapped the summer series early; instead of the initial 12 episode arc, only eight were aired. The show ended on July 4, two weeks prior than originally planned.

She was next cast in the title role in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. The horror film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2006, immediately generating buzz and landing a deal with Harvey Weinstein. However, nearly a year after its Toronto debut, the movie had not reached theaters. In July 2007, Mandy Lane found a new distribution home and the film finally was released in 2008 with a February UK release and DVD release in June.

In 2007, Heard also appeared in the short movie Day 73 with Sarah and Jess Manafort's indie drama Remember the Daze (aka The Beautiful Ordinary), which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June and opened in limited release in April 2008. She then appeared in the Judd Apatow comedy Pineapple Express and the martial arts drama Never Back Down, released in 2008, back-to-back. The latter opened in March and Heard played the role of the free-spirited Baja Miller who falls for Sean Faris' Jake Tyler. The film did well in the box office and raised Heard's profile a great deal. She appeared in numerous magazines and promoted the film internationally.

Heard also made a brief appearance in Showtime's Californication and joined the ensemble cast of The Informers, based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel of the same title, set to be released in 2009. She also filmed the horror film The Stepfather and the comedy film Ex-Terminators back-to-back in 2008 while promoting Never Back Down, Mandy Lane and Remember the Daze.[2]

Heard at the premiere of The Joneses, during the Toronto International Film Festival, September 13, 2009

In late 2008 she filmed The River Why and The Joneses; two independent features due out later this year. At the beginning of 2009 The Informers made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The reviews were mostly negative. Heard next appeared in Zombieland, playing the small role of the object of Jesse Eisenberg’s affection who turns into a zombie. She will subsequently appear in John Carpenter's The Ward. In March Heard begins filming The Rum Diary, opposite Johnny Depp, in Puerto Rico. Heard is reported to have won the role out over Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley. In 2010, she will star in and produce And Soon the Darkness, co-starring Odette Yustman and Karl Urban.[3]

In the October 2009 issue of Teen Vogue, Amber describes her role as Johnny Depp's love interest in the film, The Rum Diary, as "the best experience of my life."[4]

[edit] Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
2004 Friday Night Lights Maria
2005 Side FX Shay
Drop Dead Sexy Candy
North Country Young Josey Aimes
2006 Price To Pay Trish
The Prince (Made for Television) Serena
You Are Here Amber
Alpha Dog Alma
2007 Day 73 With Sarah Mary
Remember the Daze Julia
2008 All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Mandy Lane
Never Back Down Baja Miller
Pineapple Express Angie Anderson
2009 The Informers Christie
Zombieland 406
The Stepfather Kelly
ExTerminators Nikki Post-production
The River Why Eddy Post-production
The Joneses Jenn Post-production
2010 And Soon the Darkness Stephanie Post-production
The Rum Diary Chenault Post-production
The Ward Kristen Post-production
2012 Cowgirl Bandits

[edit] Television

[edit] Main Roles

Year Title Role Episodes
2007 Hidden Palms Greta Matthews Season 01 - 08 Episodes

[edit] Guest Appearances

Year Title Role Episodes
2004 Jack & Bobby Liz 1x01 - "Pilot"
The Mountain Riley 1x08 - "A Piece of the Rock"
2005 The O.C. Salesgirl 2x15 - "Mallpisode"
2006 Criminal Minds Lila Archer 1x18 - "Somebody's Watching"
2007 Californication Amber 1x08 - "California Son"

[edit] Awards

Year Result Award Category Nominated Work
2008 Won Young Hollywood Awards Breakthrough Performance Award None

[edit] Sexiest Countdown Rankings

Year Countdown Name Rank
2008 Maxim's Hot 100 Women 2008 #21
FHM's 100 Sexiest Women of 2008 #90
2009 FHM's 100 Sexiest Women of 2009 #31
Maxim's Hot 100 Women 2009 #56

[edit] References

[edit] External links