‘Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom’ Director James Wan Confirms Amber Heard Has Reduced Role In Film, Says It Was Planned From The Beginning
John F. Trent
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Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom director James Wan confirmed that Amber Heard’s role in the film is indeed reduced compared to the first film.
James Wan speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con International, for “Warner Bros. Pictures”, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Heard’s role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom became a topic of discussion when she testified underoath that Warner Bros. was intentionally cutting down her role from the film due to her legal battles with ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Heard testified, “I was given a script and given new versions of the script that had taken away scenes that had action in it, that had depicted my character and another character – without giving any spoilers away – the two characters fighting with one another.”
She added, “They basically took a bunch out of my role. They didn’t…They just removed a bunch out.”
RELATED: DC Films President Walter Hamada Denies Amber Heard’s Claim Her Role in Aquaman 2 Was “Pared Down”
Heard’s testimony was contradicted during the trial by former head of DC Films Walter Hamada.
Hamada said, “Besides the role in the film that she has was determined in the early development of the script, which would have happened in 2018, I would say. From there beyond normal development, the role sort of — the character’s involvement in the story was sort of what it was from the beginning.”
He was then asked, “Was her role ever reduced for any reason?”
Hamada replied, “No, I mean, again, from the early stages of the development of the script the movie was built around the character of Arthur and the character of Orm. Arthur being Jason Momoa and Orm being Patrick Wilson, so they were always the two co-leads of the movie.”
When asked if Heard was ever planned to be the co-lead of the film, Hamada said, “No, the movie was always pitched as a buddy comedy between Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson.”
Mera (Amber Heard) confronts Aquaman (Jason Momoa) in Aquaman (2018), Warner Bros.
Now speaking with Empire via The Direct, James Wan confirmed Hamada’s testimony.
He said, “It’s fair that [Heard] said that [about the character being pared down], because she wasn’t in my head as I was working on this movie.”
“Actors don’t necessarily know what we [directors] behind the scenes are thinking about,” he elaborated. “But this was always my plan. From the start, I pitched that the first film would be a ‘Romancing The Stone’-type thing — an action-adventure romantic comedy — while the second would be an outright buddy comedy. I wanted to do ‘Tango & Cash!'”
Jason Momoa as Aquaman in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Warner Bros. Pictures
What do you make of Wan’s comments confirming Heard’s role is reduced in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?
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