Tuesday 24 May 2022 05:04 PM Warner Brother's executive says they had to FABRICATE chemistry between Amber ... trends now
Warner Brother's had to 'fabricate' chemistry between Amber Heard and Jason Momoa in postproduction of Aquaman and her role in the second film was not affected by her public drama with Johnny Depp, the defamation trial heard.
Walter Hamada, President of DC-Based Film Production, Warner Bros. Pictures, testified via video deposition Tuesday and denied that Heard's compensation was affected by anything said by Depp or his lawyer Adam Waldman.
However he did admit there was a weeks-long delay in confirming that Heard would take part in Aquaman 2 because of 'conversations about recasting' her role.
Hamada said that the issues were raised as the filming of the first Aquaman film concluded because of the 'chemistry' between Heard and Momoa.
He said: 'Editorially they were able to make that relationship work in the movie. There was a concern it took a lot of effort to get there.'
Warner Bros was considering 'someone with better more natural chemistry with Jason Momoa and move forward that way.'
Hamada said that he did speak to Momoa about the chemistry problem when they were greenlighting Aquaman 2 but did not reveal what he said.
Under cross examination from Heard's lawyer Elaine Bredehoft Hamada said: 'It's not uncommon for two leads to not have chemistry.'
Hamada said, 'It's movie magic and editorial - the ability to put performance together. You can fabricate that chemistry. If you watch the movie they look like they had great chemistry. It took a lot of effort to get there. Sometimes it's very easy and sometimes it's hard.'
Bredehoft asked what exactly was the chemistry between Heard and Momoa.
Hamada said: 'It's like what makes a movie star a movie star. You know it when you see it and it wasn't there.'
Bredehoft asked: 'What did you do to fabricate the chemistry?'
Hamada said: 'It's editorial. Pick the right takes, the right moments and put scenes together. The music in the scene makes a big difference. Just the magic of post production, editing, sound, music etc'.
Bredehoft asked if Hamada meant 'literally falsifying' the chemistry or something else like picking the music.
He said: 'That's what we do in post production. On any production you're doing that. This one was more difficult because of the lack of chemistry but they were able to get it to a place where the end result works and it's great.'
Walter Hamada, President of DC-Based Film Production, Warner Bros. Pictures, testified via video deposition Tuesday and denied that Heard's compensation was affected by anything said by Depp or his lawyer Adam Waldman
Hamada admitted there was a weeks long delay in confirming that Head would take part in Aquaman 2 because of 'conversations about recasting' her role and considered 'someone with better more natural chemistry'
Hamada denied that Warner Bros was considering paying Heard more for Aquaman 2 because a 'big part of our philosophy' was to hold actors to their original agreements
Hamada denied Heard's claims her character, Mera, saw its role reduced dramatically including having an action scene taken away from her. Under questioning from one of Depp's lawyers, he said that the 'character's involvement was what it was from the beginning'
Hamada denied that Warner Bros was considering paying Heard more for Aquaman 2 because a 'big part of our philosophy' was to hold actors to their original agreements.
Under questioning from one of Depp's lawyers, he said that the 'character's involvement was what it was from the beginning'
Heard's legal team have claimed she could have renegotiated her fee from $2million for the first Aquaman movie to $6million for the second one.
Hamada denied Heard's claims her character, Mera, saw its role reduced dramatically including having an action scene taken away from her.
Under questioning from one of Depp's lawyers, he said that the 'character's involvement was what it was from the beginning.'
Hamada said that 'from the early stages of development of the script the movie was building around the character of Arthur and Orm', played by Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson respectively.
They were 'always the co-leads of the movie' and not Heard. Hamada said: 'The movie was always pitched as a buddy comedy between Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson.'
The court heard a text from Aquaman director James Wan to Heard in August 2018 which said: 'You rated really high with the audience!!!'
Hamada said it would have been after a test screening.
Heard's legal team rested its case without calling Depp to the stand as previously planned.
This came as the judge in the Depp vs. Heard case rejected a request to strike Amber Heard's $100m counterclaim after a fiery exchange of rhetoric from both sides.
Judge Penney Azcarate ruled there was enough evidence to show that Adam Waldman was working as a lawyer for Johnny Depp.
There was also 'more than a scintilla of evidence' Waldman made claims to the media that Heard's claims were a hoax while knowing they were false.
That is the required test for defamation case law, which is also known as 'actual malice'
The decision came after Depp's lawyer Benjamin Chew claimed there was not 'clear and convincing evidence' that Waldman made defamatory
