Following graphic allegations of abuse, recordings of vicious fights and airings of nasty text messages, will Hollywood be ready to welcome back Johnny Depp or Amber Heard?

Depp, the Pirates of the Caribbean star, declared that a US jury gave him his life back when it awarded him a near-total victory in his defamation fight with ex-wife Heard on Wednesday.

Jurors supported Depp’s three claims that Heard had defamed him and awarded him more than $10 million in damages. Heard won one counter-claim that Depp’s lawyer had defamed her. The jury awarded Heard $2 million. The verdicts came with a cost. Over six weeks, the televised trial provided vivid detail about a troubled marriage and evidence that both Depp and Heard admitted was embarrassing.

Still, Depp is expected to be offered new movie roles, now that the US jury has backed him following a years-long legal battle, said Clayton Davis, senior awards editor at Hollywood publication Variety.

“I think Johnny Depp is going to work again. He’s going to get some big project,” Davis said after the verdict, noting Hollywood offers plenty of examples of stars who recovered from very public scandals.

Robert Downey Jr, Mel Gibson, Hugh Grant, Roman Polanski and others found new opportunities after serious allegations of improper behaviour, criminal convictions or missteps. Kevin Spacey has acted in a handful of independent films after being accused in 2018 of sexual misconduct, which he denies. “We have a culture that allows these people to work again,” Davis said.

Attorney Neama Rahmani called the US trial “PR genius” by Depp and his team to rebuild his reputation.