A 101 Guide to Your New Favorite Actress, Amber Heard

You've been seeing Amber Heard's name in the media quite a bit lately, most likely right next to a famous actor whose name is going to go completely unmentioned in this article. Many have tried to dismiss and diminish her career and accomplishments during her disturbing divorce experience, but clearly, they haven't taken the time to explore what a talented, generous, and badass person Amber Heard is. She's an incredibly accomplished actress, proud member of the LGBT community, and a major voice in ending violence against women. Now, Let's take a good, long look at why she deserves our love, respect, and support - not to mention a major place in our movie queues.

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12. Even if you don't think you know her, you've totally seen her in movies like Pineapple Expressas Seth Rogen's girlfriend, Zombieland as Jessie Eisenberg's crush/zombie neighbor, and Lila in a really good episode of Criminal Minds.

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11. She came out at the GLAAD 25th Anniversary event, and the speech she gave surrounding her reason for going public with her sexuality is inspiring, uplifting, and truly important. 

10. She and her ex-girlfriend Tasya Van Ree made a bunch of cool, artsy videos together, including this beautiful equality-focused piece that's a must-watch:

9. In fact, you should actually just go ahead and watch all the videos Amber and Tasya made together, because they're random, gorgeous, and a splendid trip down memory lane for any long-term Amber Heard fan.

8. She has beautiful poetry tattoos and is apparently also an amazing daughter. 

7. Let's literally never forget she's an incredibly employed actress in such esteemed films as North Country (where she plays young Charlize Theron, NBD) and, most recently, The Danish Girl.

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6. She's also made some not-so-esteemed movies that are still a whole lot of damn fun, like Magic Mike XXL, Machete Kills, and the instant classic that is Drive Angry.

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5. But wait! She's also really freaking great at playing the Final Girl in horror and thriller films like All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Ward, And Soon the Darkness (which I've seen eight times for no discernable reason), The Joneses, and The Stepfather. Here's the Mandy Lane trailer, which is a movie where everyone's in love with Amber Heard and I'm somehow not in it.

4. And here she is singing a duet in her new movie, One More Time, with Christopher Walken, and really - could your fave ever? (Actually, your fave could, because your fave is now Amber Heard). 

3. The fact that NBC's The Playboy Club - which starred Amber as the leading bunny - got cancelled after three episodes is a crime that should never be forgiven.  There was also a lesbian bunny and Broadway's extraordinary Laura Benanti was the co-star. Crime.

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2. But let's not be sad about what NBC wrongfully cancelled, let's look forward to Amber's amazing roles she's got coming up, specifically as the female lead, Mera, in Aquaman with a planned appearance in Justice League.  That's right: Amber Laura Heard is swimming onto all your screens, DC-style. You go, girl. 

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1. And to conclude, remember how Amber donated her entire $7 million divorce settlement to the ACLU with a focus on ending violence against women and the children's hospital of Los Angeles, where she's been a volunteer for the past 10 years? That money will make a huge difference in tons of lives in a major way. Amber is incredible. That is all.