{"id":49232,"date":"2024-04-09T15:25:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T13:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2021951"},"modified":"2024-04-09T15:37:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T13:37:29","slug":"who-is-marisa-abela-meet-back-to-black-star-playing-amy-winehouse","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/who-is-marisa-abela-meet-back-to-black-star-playing-amy-winehouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Marisa Abela? Meet Back to Black star playing Amy Winehouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

First reviews for Back to Black are in \u2013 and they heap praise on lead star Marisa Abela. <\/p>

By Molly Moss\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 09 April 2024 at 13:25 PM<\/p>

\n\n

The tragic story of the late Amy Winehouse, iconic songwriter and vocalist, is getting the biopic treatment in a new film titled Back to Black<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Helmed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the film focuses on Winehouse\u2019s years living in London in the early noughties and her journey to stardom, and stars Marisa Abela in the lead role<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the film\u2019s world premiere, critics have shared a mixed bag of reactions, but they seem to agree on one thing: Abela\u2019s strong performance<\/a> as Amy.<\/p>\n

The actor confirmed the role back in January with an Instagram post in which she wore a gold necklace with the words \u201cAmy Jade\u201d\u00a0\u2013<\/span>\u00a0the singer\u2019s first two names.<\/p>\n

She captioned the image with a reference from Amy\u2019s 2008 Grammy acceptance speech, writing: \u201c<\/span>And for <\/span>London<\/span>. This is for London. \u2018Cause Camden Town ain\u2019t burnin\u2019 down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wondering what else Abela has appeared in and what she\u2019s said about her role in Back to Black? Read on for everything you need to know about the star.
<\/span><\/p>\n

Who is Marisa Abela?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Marisa\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse and Eddie Marsan as Mitch Winehouse in Back to Black.<\/span><\/figcaption> Studiocanal<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Abela is an actress who is known for her work on both the big and small screen. <\/span>She was born in Brighton on 7th December 1996.<\/span><\/p>\n

She has previously opened up about how she initially wanted to head for law school, but eventually applied to RADA, securing a place when she was 19 years old.<\/p>\n

She rose to fame playing investment banker Yasmin in BBC drama Industry<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

How old is Marisa Abela?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Abela is 27 years old<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What else has Marisa Abela starred in?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Marisa\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Marisa Abela stars in Industry season 2.<\/span><\/figcaption> HBO<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Abela starred in 2020 thriller series Cobra<\/strong> and interactive feature film Five Dates<\/strong> before getting her big break in Industry<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the role, she said<\/a> back in 2021: \u201cI was in my final year of drama school at the time when I got the script. It was maybe three episodes, and I was just overwhelmed with excitement at the idea of playing a character like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cHer tagline was \u2018vulnerability disguised by Prada\u2019, and I was like\u2026 \u2018God, this is going to be so fun.’\u201d<\/p>\n

She also had a very minor role in Greta Gerwig\u2019s Barbie.<\/p>\n

Does Marisa Abela sing in Back to Black?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yes<\/strong>, director Sam Taylor-Johnson recently revealed that Marisa has provided all vocals for the film.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking to <\/span>Empire<\/span><\/a>, she said: \u201cWhen we first talked about it, my first question to (Marisa) was, \u2018Can you sing?\u2019 And she said, \u2018I can\u2019\u2019t.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cI was thinking, maybe we\u2019ll use Amy\u2019s voice throughout, and we\u2019ll do it that way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe then went off after that audition \u2013 irrespective of whether she knew she\u2019d got the part \u2013 and started training her voice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

What has Marisa Abela said about Back to Black?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Talking about taking on the role of a lifetime, Abela told Harper\u2019s Bazaar<\/a>: <\/span>\u201cWhat we were interested in doing was bringing audiences back to who she was when she first captured everyone\u2019s imaginations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cIt was about that moment where she really set the world on fire with her album Frank. We wanted to get back to that place \u2013 who was she, at the centre of her own narrative? I wanted to capture the essence of her soul.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWhen we look back on her narrative, we are somehow using other people to inform us about her story. Our film is really trying to take it back to how Amy felt, what Amy was thinking \u2013 and there is no judgement there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n