Heard gained more mainstream recognition in 2008 , when she appeared in supporting roles in the Judd Apatow-produced stoner comedy '' Pineapple Express '' and the martial arts drama '' Never Back Down '' , both of which were box office successes . That year , she won a Breakthrough Award at the Hollywood Film Festival . Her other 2008 film releases were the critically panned Bret Easton Ellis adaptation '' The Informers '' , in which she was part of an ensemble cast , and '' All the Boys Love Mandy Lane '' , an unconventional slasher film in which she had one of her first leading roles . Its director , Jonathan Levine , said he had chosen Heard for the title role because " there was a certain type of beauty and a certain type of innate intelligence that Amber brought to it that is not something you find every day . Certainly , not something you would find in somebody her age . The wisdom she projects I thought was pretty remarkable . " '' Mandy Lane '' had already premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival , and had been initially picked for distribution by Harvey Weinstein . After a negative test screening , Weinstein dropped the film , and it was then released in the United Kingdom in 2008 by a different distributing company . It did not have a theatrical release in the United States until 2013 . The '' Los Angeles Times '' stated that Heard gave her most " definitive performance to date 2013 " in the film , and '' The Washington Post '' wrote that she gave a " psychologically interesting performance "
Hollywood Film Festival
Hollywood Film Festival
Amber Heard