Cedric Buchet/ElleYou may know Amber Heard as a blond bombshell, but she's much more than that—and she isn't afraid to let people know it!
The 27-year-old opens up about thwarting stereotypical roles both off and on the screen in the September issue of Elle.
While her enviable good looks have helped her land many a gig where she plays the pretty girl—like a stint as a Playboy Bunny in the short-lived Playboy Club and the love interest of current boyfriend Johnny Depp in The Rum Diary—she's happy to defy those who try to typecast her.
"I try to play characters who are somehow empowered or strong," Heard said in an interview with the fashion magazine. "People want to put me in a wedding dress and make me the object of affection, but I'd much rather shoot the gun and save the world. I've always fought against what was expected of me as much as I could."
And her upcoming projects, which include a turn as a double- agent in Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills and a badass assassin in Three Days to Kill certainly prove she's successfully sidestepping those predictable rom-com roles so often reserved for big screen beauties.
Similarly, her decision to come out as a bisexual in 2010 helped her flout those who would only see the star as Depp's girlfriend.
Heard, who dated photographer Tasya van Ree up until 2012, isn't shy about acknowledging her relationship with a woman.
"I didn't want to look like I was hiding anything," she said about her candidness. "I'm not, and wasn't ever, ashamed."
Don't expect Heard to give up her fiercely independent spirit any time soon. In fact, she hopes to continue to defy what's expected of her as her fame continues to rise.
"I don't imagine myself, my work, or my life, fitting into any kind of standardized path," she said. "In fact, the idea of there even being a standard freaks me out a lot."