DC Films chief Walter Hamada has testified at Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Johnny Depp in which he claimed that the studio considered for several weeks recasting Heard as Mera in the upcoming film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
According to Walter Hamada, her job wasn’t imperiled for the reason the actress has claimed, and the studio did not reduce her role along the way. Hamada said the studio’s concern was about the lack of chemistry between Heard and Jason Momoa, who stars in Aquaman. “They didn’t have a lot of chemistry together,” Hamada said.
“The reality is it’s not uncommon on movies for two leads to not have chemistry and it’s sort of movie magic and editorial — the ability to put performances with the magic of a great score and how you put the pieces together, you can fabricate that chemistry. At the end of the day when you watch the movie, it looks like they have great chemistry. But I just know that through the course of postproduction, it took a lot of effort to get there,” he said.
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He further added, “Sometimes you just put characters together on the screen and they work. It’s like what makes a movie star a movie star. You know it when you see it. The chemistry wasn’t there. … This one was more difficult because of lack of chemistry between the two.”
Hamada testified yesterday that Aquaman 2 was never meant to be a romantic co-lead film like the first movie. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set for release on March 17, 2023.
