Being out in Hollywood is still the exception rather than the rule, but one young actress who’s bucked the trend is Amber Heard, star of the recent The Rum Diary (opposite Johnny Depp). Now she’s keen to beckon others out of the closet too.

Speaking recently to Women’s Health magazine, she said, “You can’t respect yourself if you’re afraid to be who you are. It requires bravery to do something no one else around you is doing. But the risk was outweighed by the possibility of playing into this horribly detrimental lie that some in Hollywood perpetuate.”

Heard publicly revealed she was a lesbian (and had been in a two-year relationship with Tasya Van Ree) this time last year. She said then, “I can’t be a part of the problem. I hate the idea of a label just as much as anyone else but I’m with who I’m with, I love who I love and I’m if not a better actress than I was yesterday and my personal life should have no effect on that.

“I personally think that if you deny something or if you hide something you’re inadvertently admitting it’s wrong. I don’t feel like I’m wrong. I don’t feel like millions of people are wrong because they love who they love or they were born how they were born.”