Johnny Depp says his life turned into 'a soap opera' in wake of Amber Heard trial (original) (raw)

"I've been through a number of things here and there," the actor said at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.

Published on September 24, 2024 06:10PM EDT

Johnny Depp at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Photo:

Carlos Alvarez/Getty

Johnny Depp was once one of Hollywood's most bankable movie stars — and now he says he knows how it feels to be on a soap opera.

During an appearance at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, where he premiered his second directorial effort, Modi — Three Days on the Wing of Madness, the actor-turned-filmmaker spoke about how he related to the bumpy life of his film's subject, Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, and appeared to reference his own highly public legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.

"Each [character] has their story, because I'm sure we can say that I've been through a number of things here and there," said Depp, 61, according to a video of a press conference captured by The Hollywood Reporter. "But you know, I'm all right. And I think we've all been through a number of things, ultimately. Maybe yours didn't turn into a soap opera. I mean, televised, in fact."

Depp added that "we all experience and go through what we go through. And those things that we are able to live and remember and use, these are your stripes. You never forget them."

Set in Paris during World War II, Modi stars Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio in the title role. The cast also includes Antonia Desplat, Al Pacino, and Stephen Graham.

Depp was married to Heard from 2015 and 2017 and sued her for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post. Though Heard didn't name Depp in the piece, his lawyers argued that it clearly referenced abuse allegations she made against him during their divorce proceedings.

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in court.

STEVE HELBER/POOL/AFP via Getty

After a six-week televised trial in mid-2022, a jury ruled in favor of Depp, determining that Heard intentionally and maliciously defamed him. (She scored a small victory as the jury found partly in favor of her defamation countersuit.)

Heard filed an appeal but withdrew it in late 2022 and settled. "I finally have an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to," Heard said in a statement at the time. "I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward."

The contentious legal dispute came after the two were involved in a U.K. trial in 2020. Depp sued the British newspaper The Sun for libel after it referred to him as a "wife-beater" in a piece centered on Heard's abuse allegations. He lost after a judge ruled that the article was "substantially true" and "the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp have been proved to the civil standard."