Johnny Depp transforms into King Louis XV in Jeanne du Barry

Johnny Depp channels controversial King Louis XV in a teaser photo for his first feature film since the defamation trial against Amber Heard.

A first teaser photo of Johnny Depp in his new role as the controversial King Louis XV has dropped.

The 59-year-old actor wears a French historical outfit and blindfold in the promotional image for his first feature film since his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.

The film, by France’s Why Not Productions, will tell the story of King Louis XV’s last royal mistress, Jeanne du Barry, who was born the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress and climbed the social hierarchy to become the king’s last official lover.

Johnny Depp in Why Not Productions’ Jeanne du Barry.

Production on Jeanne du Barry began in France about a month after the explosive trial came to a close, according to Deadline.

The film has been shot in locations across Paris and the Île-de-France region, including Versailles.

French filmmaker Maïwenn both directs and stars in the film as the title mistress.

Other stars set to appear in the film include Benjamin Lavernhe, Pierre Richard, Melvil Poupaud, Noémie Lvovsky, Pascal Greggory, and India Hair.

Depp’s career is making a comeback with the actor also signing a multi-year contract with Dior, according to TMZ.

The three-time Oscar nominee, who first signed with the fashion house in 2015, resumes his role as the face of the company’s Sauvage scent for men, the outlet reports.

Dior Beauty took to Instagram Monday, in a partnered post with Depp, to share fashion photographer Greg Williams’ black and white stills of him ahead of recently taking to the stage with Jeff Beck in Paris.

“Fearless yet human, just like Sauvage,” the caption reads.

The images shot by Williams would reportedly be used in a new campaign for Dior, insiders told TMZ.

Johnny Depp performs on stage with Jeff Beck during the Helsinki Blues Festival in Helsinki. Picture: AFP

Depp filed a $A74m defamation lawsuit against Heard in 2019 after she wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post about surviving domestic violence. She countersued him for $A148m in 2020.

While Heard did not name Depp in the piece he alleged that his ex-wife, to whom he was married from 2015 to 2017, fabricated abuse allegations in an attempt to score a large divorce settlement and thus damaged his career.

Depp in June won an award of $10m in the defamation case against Heard, while she won $2m in damages after countersuing.

The Aquaman actress is appealing against the verdict of the jury trial, which was live-streamed to millions and featured lurid and intimate details about the former couple’s private lives.

Depp previously lost a libel case against the British tabloid The Sun in London in 2020 for calling him a “wife-beater”. Heard said she doesn’t have enough cash to pay Depp.