Johnny Depp recalls falling in love with Amber Heard

Johnny Depp is looking back at his relationship with ex-wife Amber Heard and his defamation case against her.

In a rare interview for The Sunday Times over three years after a verdict was passed, the actor, 62, recalled how past relationships in his life shaped his views on "love" before catching feelings for Heard, 39.

"So, what were my initial dealings with what we call ‘love?' " Depp posed to the publication. "Clearly obtuse."

He continued, "And what that means is, if you’re a sucker like I am, sometimes you look in a person’s eye and see some sadness, some lonely thing and you feel you can help that person."

"But no good deed goes unpunished, because there are those who, when you try to love and help them, will start to give you an understanding of what that malaise, that perturbance was in their eyes. It manifests itself in other ways," Depp added.

Depp added that this turbulent chapter was “merely a sliver” of his life that he has chosen to reflect on publicly.

Depp met Amber Heard in 2011 during the filming of The Rum Diary. The two married in 2015 but split just a year later, with Heard filing for divorce and obtaining a temporary restraining order amid allegations of domestic abuse. The divorce was finalised with a $7 million settlement in 2016.

However, in March 2019, Depp sued his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she penned for the Washington Post.

The jury ordered Heard to pay Depp $10.35 million in damages for being liable on all three counts of defamation associated with her 2018 op-ed, and Depp was to pay her $2 million as she won one of her counterclaims.

The pair eventually reached a settlement in December 2022, with Heard agreeing to pay Depp $1 million, which he pledged to donate to charity.

Reflecting on the legal battle with Heard, Depp told The Sunday Times, “Look, it had gone far enough. I knew I’d have to semi-eviscerate myself. Everyone was saying, ‘It’ll go away!’ But I can’t trust that. What will go away? The fiction pawned around the f****** globe? No, it won’t."

He remembers wanting to clear his name at the time for the sake of his children—Lily-Rose, 26, and Jack, 23—whom he shares with ex-partner Vanessa Paradis.

"If I don’t try to represent the truth, it will be like I’ve actually committed the acts I am accused of. And my kids will have to live with it. Their kids. Kids that I’ve met in hospitals," he continued.