Johnny Depp hired one of the lawyers involved in the hit Netflix series Making a Murderer because she was “the last person someone would hire if they were guilty”.

Kathleen Zellner, who was a case consultant for the actor in his multi-million dollar US defamation suit, said he had called her personally after watching the popular true-crime show.

Mr Depp sued his former partner Amber Heard for defamation following an op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post in 2018, which was found to be defamatory by a US jury on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Law & Crime Network following the verdict, Ms Zellner said: “He called me and left a voicemail at my office.

“I didn’t really believe that it was Johnny Depp at all, but it sounded like him and he left the phone number and just said he wanted to talk to me.”

She added: “It was indicative to me of the fact that he was innocent, because he said, ‘I saw on Making a Murderer, where you said that you’d be the last person someone would hire if they were guilty, because you would find out about it’.

“And I was very struck with that that that’s what motivated him to contact me.”

Ms Zellner also praised the actor’s legal team and said his testimony during the case was “not an act” adding that the film star was a “very humble and sincere person”.