* 3 Filmography
o 3.1 Television
* 4 Awards
* 5 Magazine rankings
* 6 References
* 7 External links
Heard was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Her father, David, is a contractor, and her mother, Paige (Parsons), is an internet researcher for the state. She attended St. Michael's Catholic Academy in Austin until her junior year, when she left to pursue a career in Hollywood. As a teenager, Heard was active in her school's drama department and appeared in local commercials and campaigns. At the age of 16, her best friend died in a car crash and Heard, who was raised Catholic, then subsequently declared herself an atheist, due to the influence of the works of Ayn Rand Dropping out of school at the age of 17, to go to New York to start a career in modeling, she then relocated to Los Angeles to get into acting.
According to AfterEllen.com, Heard came out in 2010, at GLAAD's 25th anniversary event. She is dating artist Tasya van Ree She has said about her sexuality: "I don't label myself one way or another – I have had successful relationships with men and now a woman. I love who I love, it's the person that matters
Heard grew up around guns, and owns a .357 Magnum A fan of muscle cars, Heard drives a 1968 Ford Mustang.
Once in Los Angeles, Heard made appearances in various TV shows and a music video, Kenny Chesney's "There Goes My Life". She was cast as Liz in the pilot episode of The WB's Jack & Bobby (2004), as Riley in an episode of The Mountain (2004) and she had a brief cameo as a salesgirl in The O.C. (2005). Her first movie role was Maria in Friday Night Lights (2004). She next starred as Shay in Side FX (2005), an independent horror film, and had supporting roles in Drop Dead Sexy (2005), Price to Pay (2006) and You Are Here (2006). Heard had more prominent parts in Niki Caro's North Country (2005) as young Josey and as Alma in Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog (2006). In 2006 she starred in an episode of Criminal Minds as Lila Archer, a young Hollywood actress who has a crush on Spencer Reid.
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