Amber Heard's 5 Best Movies According To Rotten Tomatoes
Actors don't knock it out of the park with every single project they choose, but sometimes, they strike gold — and show up in a movie that everyone pretty much loves. This is definitely true for Amber Heard, who, after getting her start in the 2006 horror flick "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane," started booking bigger and bigger roles in everything from raunchy delights like "Magic Mike XXL" to prestige dramas like "The Danish Girl" to huge superhero blockbusters like the "Aquaman" movies.
So, which Amber Heard movies knocked it out of the park with critics and fans? After a few decades in the industry, Heard has managed to rack up a decent number of supporting and lead turns in movies with solidly fresh Rotten Tomatoes scores, but these five are ranked as the very best movies featuring Amber Heard in some fashion, whether she's central to the film's overall plot or just popping in for a smaller role.
Amber Heard has a small yet pivotal part in Zombieland
Nobody in 2009's "Zombieland" gets a proper name, but Amber Heard's character doesn't even get a location-based moniker like everybody else; she's known only as "406," referring to her apartment number. She also only shows up in one scene in the zombie comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin, in a flashback that explains why Columbus (Eisenberg) is so hesitant to trust any other survivors of the zombie-causing pandemic.
Right at the start of the outbreak, Columbus is alone in his apartment when his beautiful neighbor, 406, comes to his door in a total panic, saying a strange man bit her, and she's completely freaked out. After the two fall asleep together, though, 406, predictably, wakes up as a zombie ... and Columbus is forced to kill her. Columbus, by his own admission, isn't particularly smooth with the ladies; surprisingly, this encounter doesn't boost his confidence for when he eventually meets Wichita (Stone). Ultimately, "Zombieland" earned a solid 89% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Heard's best-reviewed film.
Her Smell has Amber Heard playing a musical sensation
A movie packed full of supermodels (like Cara Delevingne and Agyness Deyn), "Her Smell" is an odd yet creative film, helmed by writer-director Alex Ross Perry. Elisabeth Moss stars as Becky Something, a rock 'n roll queen whose hard-partying lifestyle is alienating her from her friends, family, and baby. The story, which is told over the course of five different stories throughout Becky's life as she struggles to get sober and tries to keep her career afloat, is an indisputable showcase for Moss, a powerhouse performer. Amber Heard does show up, though, in a small but pivotal role as Zelda E. Zekiel.
A well-meaning character whom Becky views as a total threat, Heard's Zelda was once the opening act for Becky's band Something She, but in the years since then, she's completely surpassed that band in popularity. As a result, when she returns to Becky's life, she offers the opening spot on her huge tour to Something She, which makes Becky absolutely furious.
Heard isn't in the movie all that much, but her presence looms over Becky during the singer's worst moments. Coming in as a close second to "Zombieland," "Her Smell" scored 84% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, marking yet another success for Heard and the rest of the cast and crew.
North Country boasts a 70% rating
The 2005 drama "North Country" stars Charlize Theron, but Amber Heard also appears in the film as a younger version of Theron's character — and in doing so, she provides one of the film's most important and harrowing moments. Heard plays a younger version of Josephine "Josey" Aimes, who has to escape an abusive marriage and ends up living with her estranged parents and working a dangerous job at an iron mine. After her parents kick her out, Josey and her two children end up moving in with her coworker and friend Glory Dodge (Frances McDormand). Despite facing near-constant harassment at the mine, Josey sticks it out until she joins a class-action lawsuit of women treated unfairly at the mine.
In these flashbacks, we learn that as a teenager, Josey was sexually assaulted by her high school teacher. Even though there was a witness, the teacher was never charged with any sort of crime. Heard has a particularly difficult role in "North Country," and she pulls it off — the movie ultimately earned a fresh 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it "a rousing, powerful story of courage and humanity."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Pineapple Express scored a 68%
Remember when everybody was obsessed with stoner comedies? Well, they were in 2008 when "Pineapple Express" — a collaboration between creative partners Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg — came out, and luckily for Amber Heard, she scored a solid supporting role in the film. The movie stars Rogen as Dale alongside James Franco as Saul, his drug dealer, who both end up involved in a massive plot concocted by a local drug lord. So, where does Heard fit in?
Well, in a subplot that doesn't age particularly well, Heard plays Angie, Dale's girlfriend ... who's in high school. (This very weird situation does lead to a solidly funny scene where Dale is confronted by Heard's furious parents played by Ed Begley Jr. and Nora Dunn, though.) Dale ends up dumping Angie over the phone after she floats the idea of getting married, and that's about it for her character. The movie earned a perfectly respectable 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty solid for a movie where Danny McBride won't stop talking about his cat's birthday.
Aquaman swam toward a 66%
Nearly every Hollywood star has gotten involved in a big-budget blockbuster superhero flick by this point, and Heard is certainly no exception. In 2018, she joined Jason Momoa for the first standalone "Aquaman" film in the DCEU, where she plays Mera, the princess of Xebel who has spent her life being raised by Queen Atlanna of Atlantis (Nicole Kidman) to become the queen of the lost city of Atlantis. Not only that, but she possesses two incredibly important powers: she can manipulate water and telepathically speak to Atlanteans.
After teaming up with Momoa's Arthur Curry to fight against his dangerous half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), the two fall for each other, though Mera's status as the film's love interest doesn't prevent her from fighting just as hard as Arthur throughout the story.
Heard will reprise her role in "Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom," the 2023 sequel — though her role was, by her own admission, seriously diminished — but she definitely made a splash (sorry) with her role as Mera. "Aquaman" might be fifth on this particular list, but it scored a fresh 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is certainly nothing to scoff at.