Playing Amy Winehouse was never going to be easy. But Marisa Abela didn’t expect a film about the singer’s life to prompt such an incendiary reaction. “That job was a real learning curve for me,” says the 28-year-old who starred as the late musician in Sam Taylor-Johnson’s 2024 biopic. Back to Black told the story of Winehouse’s rocketing rise to success and her well-publicised battle with addiction, as well as her on-off relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, played by Jack O’Connell. Abela, who, like Winehouse, is of Jewish heritage, captured her wild contradictions, and although the critical response took issue with the ethics of the project, many reviewers praised the unexpected tenderness in its lead performance.
It’s fair to say, though, that the film itself was eviscerated by fans, many of whom dismissed it as a posthumous exploitation of the singer that reinforced her story as one of victimhood and abuse. Others argued it did the opposite, spending too long romanticising Winehouse’s relationship with Fielder-Civil, who many blame for introducing Winehouse to heroin, while sanitising the darker and more tragic aspects of her life – the musician died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27. There was also scepticism around the decision not to use Winehouse’s vocals in the film, which had been made by Taylor-Johnson after she heard Abela sing. Although not a trained musician, Abela spent four months learning to sing like Winehouse alongside learning to play the guitar. She also spent hours in the makeup chair every day, transforming into the role: Sixties-inspired beehive hairdo, winged eyeliner, swirling shoulder tattoos.
