Amber Heard intrigued by transgender movie

Amber Heard is "fascinated" by the topic of transgender.

The 29-year-old actress stars in upcoming biopic The Danish Girl, which tells the story of the first known recipient of sexual reassignment surgery, Lili Elbe (Eddie Redmayne).

Amber found the real-life tale "incredibly compelling" and is intrigued by those who go through the process, praising their courage.

"This is a relatively new possibility to change gender. So it opens up a whole new conversation that's fascinating to me about what it is to be male or female or to live in a world with a two party system," she told indiewire.com

"Where you have up until recently one of two options, and it wasn't an option. Now it opens up a conversation.

"There's always been gay people. That's a fact. And I'm not trying to say that having ambiguous gender identity, I'm not saying that's new... But to actively be able to change it in this way... Awesome."

This movie marks a new direction for Amber, who has often played sexualised characters such as Chenault in The Rum Diary and Miss San Antonio in Machete Kills. She thinks the industry is "hard" on women as they must choose whether to play a sexy role or not, and while some may opt for the latter, it can end up being severely limited.

But she's landed a part which meets her requirements in upcoming flick When I Live My Life Over Again, playing Christopher Walken's onscreen daughter. It was a job she fought hard for.

"I should not have to choose to be taken seriously or to be beautiful. I finally get to do a role without any of that sh*t. It's about a character and her issues and her problems and her journey," she explained. "I moved to LA when I was 17, not knowing anyone, so I had to work my ass off. Finally I'm being allowed to have the opportunity."