Amber Heard’s Transformation From Texas Pageant Queen To Hollywood Personality

Since scoring her first roles in 2004 Amber Heard has risen through the Hollywood ranks to become a genuine A-lister and leading lady. It’s been quite the journey for the small-town beauty queen, but far from an easy road. In fact, these days she’s a lightning rod for controversy — especially in relation to her marriage to Johnny Depp. Let’s take a look at her transformation over the years.

Growing up a bookworm

Heard was raised in Austin, Texas, the second of three girls born to Patricia and David Heard. Her dad ran a building firm, and her mom was an online research specialist. From as far back as she can remember, Heard was a serious bookworm. She would wile away her days in the Austin Public Library, her developing political views heavily influenced by a love of dystopian sci-fi novels.

And a tomboy

The young Heard was also kind of a tomboy, though. Of her father, she once told Glamour magazine, “I was his hunting and fishing buddy. When I was 12, I was struggling to stay on a bucking horse that was particularly unhappy about the arrangement. I spotted a little patch of grass, and I leapt.”

Getting back on the horse

Dad wasn’t happy with this at all, though, and encouraged her to get back on the horse. She confessed, “It didn’t just take the look on my dad’s face to put me back in the saddle. But that helped.” It’s a philosophy she still abides by in adulthood, saying, “You gotta get back on the horse. ’Cause the only thing worse than being thrown off is giving up on trying.”

A young go-getter

From a young age, Heard knew what we wanted to achieve and was very much a self-starter. She told Glamour that, when she was 12, she went to local businesses to ask them for financial support in raising funds to compete in beauty contests. As an adult, though, she confessed, “Pageants are weird, and I can’t support the objectification.”