As the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard defamation trail heads towards a close this week, testimony heard on Monday in relation to Amber Heard’s upcoming appearance in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and specifically how her role was allegedly reduced dramatically due to her ongoing legal issues with Depp, appears to have revealed spoilers for superhero movie. Former Hollywood producer Kathryn Arnold took the stand as a witness for Heard to corroborate the actresses claims that her appearance as Mera in Aquaman 2 was originally much larger than it has become.
While detailing the changes made to the script for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Arnold shared what seems to be spoilers about the blockbuster in relation to the character of Mera and how she will be “hospitalized” in the movie and not seen again until the end of the film. In her testimony, Arnold explained how despite there being reported “chemistry” issues between Heard and Momoa, she had been led to believe that the original script featured a more prominent role for the actress. She said:
"When two actors do well in a romantic relationship, and you know, they get married or they're gonna have a baby, you want to follow that through. Part of what did well in Aquaman was not only the action sequences, but to have a strong female character having a relationship with a strong male character, it's very empowering. So that was working for them in the first place. And according to Ms. Heard, when she read the first script for Aquaman 2, she had a strong romantic arc [in] the entire film, and she also got to some great action sequences at the end of that storyline in that script. She was featured predominantly throughout the script of Aquaman 2 when she first read it."
Arnold went on to discuss more about how Heard prepared for the role with a lot of training in the belief that there would be substantial action sequences required. After explaining that Heard did not receive scripts for a long while after, despite other stars of the movie receiving multiple copies, when she did receive one, her role had been “diminished.” Arnold concluded:
"I believe that in the first act of the movie, she was injured somehow, or had something to do with the baby," Arnold revealed. "I don't know exactly, I'm just going with what Ms. Heard told me about, that she ends up in the hospital early in this new Aquaman 2 movie, and doesn't really come out until the end, to kind of wrap things up. But all of the interactions with Momoa's [character], and certainly the action scenes, were taken out."
Warner Brothers Are Expected To Deny Claims Her Role Was Cut Due To Her Legal Issues With Depp
As the trial heads into its final days, with closing statements currently expected to take place at the end of this week, DC Films head Walter Hamada is expected to take the stand on Tuesday to deny that Heard's role in Aquaman 2 has been reduced due to the trial, or any of her ongoing issues with Johnny Depp.
Heard previously testified that Warner Bros. had “significantly pared down” her role as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom as a direct result of court cases and negative press linked to them, all of which surround the legal wrangling between the two stars. With the trial seemingly heading to some potentially pivotal testimonies in the next few days, Hamada’s statement could well be one that proves to be crucial in the trial.