Nothing quite says ‘Happy New Year 2010′ than this special update with a brand new, drop-dead gorgeous shot of Amber Heard featured in the February 2010 issue of Vanity Fair!

Amber is featured in a portfolio showcasing six standout up and coming actresses. The other ladies include Lily Collins, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Isabel Lucas, and Zoë Kravitz.

She played Seth Rogen’s girlfriend in Pineapple Express. Now she moves into the spotlight—first in the thriller And Soon the Darkness, then in The Rum Diary, based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson, opposite Johnny Depp. She got the latter role by detailing, in a letter to the director and producers, her passion for the material, beating out a number of A-list actresses along the way, including Scarlett Johansson. “The part didn’t call for a famous person,” says Heard. “It called for an actress who was right for the part.” The ballsiness can be traced back to Austin, Texas, where Heard attended Catholic school. There she became enamored with the novels of Ayn Rand. “She wrote about triumph over captivity,” she explains. “I always felt trapped.” She dropped out, went to Hollywood, and landed a small role in the film Friday Night Lights. As she tells it, the rest was history. “Within the first week of shooting I knew I was going to be an actress.”

Photograph by Patrick Demarchelier.
Dress by Versace; bracelet by DeBeers.