Following her epic court battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp last year, Amber Heard’s position in the upcoming Aquaman sequel has been a hot topic of discussion.
Heard plays Mera, the love interest of Jason Momoa’s titular hero.
As Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom opened in theaters on Friday, Heard’s role appeared to be cut to 15 to 20 minutes of screen time out of the 142-minute film.
Instead of the actress, 37, taking center stage, Momoa and Patrick Wilson wind up collaborating and directing the majority of the picture.
According to Business Insider, Heard gets only 11 lines in the picture. Furthermore, she spends much of her screen time sitting or standing nicely alongside or behind Aquaman. And when he does speak, she rarely says more than one sentence at a time.
In a September interview with Entertainment Weekly, the film’s director, James Wan, stated that Heard was never intended to co-direct the sequel.
However, DC Films president James Hamada testified last year on behalf of Depp’s legal team, claiming that Heard’s role was considerably reduced owing to “lack of chemistry” between Heard and Momoa in the first film.