“Aquaman 2”
Did Jason Momoa dress up as Johnny Depp?
Jason Momoa and Amber Heard in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
© Studiocanal GmbH / Marco Nagel
There was a lot of drama during the filming of “Aquaman 2”. Jason Momoa is said to have been drunk on set and to have written an “incendiary letter” to Elon Musk.
When Warner Bros. released the trailer for its $215 million film “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” in mid-September, embarrassing documents from the libel trial between Johnny Depp (60) and Amber Heard (37) also appeared on Reddit.
Depp fans have paid the court fees for publishing the documents from Heard’s therapist Dr. Dawn Hughes paid. The unedited notes, scribbled on a notepad, were part of last year’s high-profile trial in which Depp largely won. They describe an unpleasant “Aquaman” set where an allegedly drunk Jason Momoa (44) dressed up as a moron and pushed for Heard to be thrown out of the role of the aquatic superhero Mera. “Jason said he wanted me fired,” says the notes from which Variety quotes. “Jason drunk – late on set. Dressed like Johnny. Has all the rings too.”
No comment from Jason Momoa and Amber Heard
A representative for Momoa declined to comment, but a DC spokesperson dismissed Heard’s account, saying, “Jason Momoa conducted himself professionally at all times on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Others agreed with this opinion. “Jason works his ass off, likes to have a beer like everyone else, but he doesn’t show up on set drunk,” said an insider who was on the London set in 2021, adding that the two stars got along well and one another saw them joking together. “And he doesn’t dress like Johnny Depp. He’s always dressed in that bohemian style.”
Heard also declined to comment, but a source close to the actress confirmed that the notes refer to the set of “Aquaman 2” and reflect a meeting from December 27, 2021. Another source close to the actress says her lawyers fought the release of the therapy notes that were requested by Depp’s lawyers during evidence.
But that’s not all, the therapy session also painted a picture of Heard, who felt unsupported by the film’s director, James Wan (46, “Fast & Furious 7”), and like an outcast because of her high-profile legal dispute with her ex-husband was treated. Wan also declined to comment. The DC spokesperson explains: “James is known for treating cast and crew with the utmost respect and fostering a positive, collaborative environment on set – the ‘Aquaman’ films were no exception.”
Lack of chemistry between Momoa and Heard?
And yet Heard was almost fired, sources on both sides told the industry magazine. After the release of “Aquaman” in 2018, the studio and Wan decided to drop the actress from the sequel due to her lack of chemistry with Momoa and sent a letter to her lawyer Karl Austen informing him of their decision. Former DC Films boss Walter Hamada testified in the libel trial about the “problem of chemistry.”
These sources emphasize that the move to kick Heard out of the film had nothing to do with Depp and took place before he filed a lawsuit against the actress in 2019. Likewise, Momoa was not involved in the decision-making. However, another source contradicted the claim that there was no chemistry between Heard and Momoa. Heard did a chemistry test with Momoa before she got the role of Mera and beat two other actresses who had done a similar chemistry test, including Abbey Lee (36).
Elon Musk wrote an incendiary letter
The fact that Amber Heard was not fired was ultimately due to the intervention of her ex-boyfriend Elon Musk (52). He allegedly caused one of his lawyers to send an “incendiary letter to Warner Bros. threatening to burn the house down” if the actress wasn’t in the sequel, according to a source familiar with the fight behind the scenes is familiar. Warner Bros. relented and went ahead with Heard. Musk also did not respond to a request for comment.
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”, the official title of the sequel, is scheduled to open in cinemas on December 20, 2023.