Amber Heard wants to be known as an actress again after the Johnny Depp trial. It won't be easy — but there is a path forward.

• Amber Heard made her first public appearance since losing a defamation suit brought by Johnny Depp.
• A comeback for her may prove more complicated than her ex-husband's has been.

The actor Amber Heard has made her first public appearance since she lost the multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit brought in spring 2022 by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp. In June, she surfaced in Sicily for the Taormina Film Festival to promote "In the Fire," a new thriller in which she stars as a psychiatrist working in 1890s Colombia.

The director of the film, Conor Allyn, told People that the movie "will be a great opportunity for her to have something beyond the trial and stuff to talk about and be a platform for a hell of a comeback."

That's the hope, of course — that this new movie marks Heard's uncontroversial return to both her career and the public eye. But a comeback for her may prove more complicated than her ex-husband's has been.

Depp resumed his career right away after the trial concluded: He started touring again with his old-guy rock band, the Hollywood Vampires, and this year, he appeared at the storied Cannes Film Festival to promote his first major film in three years, "Jeanne du Barry."

His appearance sparked some protests, but he received a seven-minute standing ovation at the premiere of the film and was more or less embraced once again by the industry. (Still, he was eager to complain about his "cancellation" to reporters; he told The Guardian, "Do I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Well, you'd have to not have a pulse not to feel that way. Of course, when you're asked to resign from a film because of [allegations] that's just vowels and consonants floating in the air, you do feel a bit boycotted.")

Heard, meanwhile, has avoided talking about the trial, in which Depp argued that she defamed him by implying he abused her in a 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post. Instead, she has attempted to put the focus on her new film.

In an interview with Deadline in Taormina, she said: "I'm in control for the most part of what comes out of my mouth. What I'm not in control of is how my pride in this project and all we put into this film can be surrounded by clips of other stuff."

She added: "So let's get the elephant out of the room then, and just let me say that. I am an actress. I'm here to support a movie. And that's not something I can be sued for."

Public-relations experts said this was Heard's best strategy for moving forward. Gary Sheffer, a professor of public relations at Boston University and an expert in crisis PR, said that it's important for the public to see "Amber Heard, actor, not Amber Heard, litigant."

"Your comeback from these types of situations is as good as your performance," he said. "People are very forgiving."

He added: "There is nothing to gain by rearguing or relitigating her dispute with Johnny Depp."

This is especially true as Heard has faced much criticism and abuse online from Depp's fans. The noise around the trial got so out of control that Heard fired her own crisis-PR team during the proceedings, the New York Post reported. While Depp can continue to talk about how he has been unfairly maligned in the press — riling up his fans in the process — Heard does not have the same option if she wants to be accepted back into Hollywood.

And so far, Heard's career opportunities have been less robust than Depp's: Taormina is not Cannes, and Heard does not have a built-in fan base to support vanity projects like Depp's band. As such, she has had to be quieter and more strategic about reentering public life. Tabloids have reported she's been living in Madrid with her daughter since the trial concluded.

A source told People this week that Heard "has new energy and is focused on things that she loves" now that she's living abroad.

Sheffer does not think that Depp's easier comeback will prevent Heard from forging a new path.

"I think they can both have their own success," he said.

Both Depp and Heard have to leave the trial behind and "remind people of why you became famous, which is that you have some kind of talent," he added.

What's next for Heard? Maybe a return to a major franchise film. There had been rampant speculation that Heard would be dropped from the "Aquaman" sequel due out in December, and Heard even testified during the trial that her role had been diminished because of the controversy with Depp. But at CinemaCon in April, Warner Bros. premiered the first trailer for the film, which featured Heard in her role as Mera.

Disney, meanwhile, has not committed to welcoming Depp back to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. Perhaps Heard's slow-and-steady comeback strategy will prevail in the end.