Back To Black’s Marisa Abela Goes Into Detail About Finding ‘The Psychological And Emotional Truth' Of Amy Winehouse
The music legend gets a biopic.
There are plenty of upcoming music biopics we could point to, but one that many movie lovers are eager to see in the United States is the film Back to Black. Marisa Abela went through serious training to portray Amy Winehouse and nail the iconic voice, but to her, it wasn't just about singing—it was about discovering the truth about the singer.
I had the chance to talk to Marisa Abela, the actress portraying Winehouse, ahead of Back to Black and wanted to understand the process that she went through in order to become Winehouse for the role, including her vocal training. Abela told me that singing wasn't even "required" of the role at first – she did it because she really wanted to know what it "feels like" to be able to sing out Winehouse's music and understand the emotions behind it:
Starring Abela and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the film tells the tale of Amy Winehouse, her career rise and her personal struggles with alcohol and narcotics. While plenty of news and media companies have spoken on Winehouse, like her A24 documentary, there has yet to be a biopic like this about the famous artist until Back to Black.
There are plenty of musical biopics out there where the star willingly sings and truly immerses themselves in the role, but there are also plenty where the star doesn't. In fact, one of Jennifer Lopez's best movies, Selena, doesn't feature the lead actress singing at all. Every musical piece in that film was from recordings of the late music artist Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.
However, Back to Black uses both original vocals from Abela and recordings of Winehouse's music. Abela talked about how as she trained, her goal was to make sure that her recordings sounded "authentic" to Winehouse's, and that it was more about discovering the "psychological and the emotional truth" behind each of the songs that we hear in the film:
As a teenager, I found solace in Winehouse's albums, and it's heartening to see the passion behind the meticulous work to get these songs just right. For fellow fans of Winehouse, I believe the music in Back to Black will be a delightful reminder of her unique talent.
Back to Black is now playing in the United States as part of the 2024 movie schedule.
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A self-proclaimed nerd and lover of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, Alexandra Ramos is a Content Producer at CinemaBlend. She first started off working in December 2020 as a Freelance Writer after graduating from the Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in English. She primarily works in features for movies, TV, and sometimes video games. (Please don't debate her on The Last of Us 2, it was amazing!) She is also the main person who runs both our daily newsletter, The CinemaBlend Daily, and our ReelBlend newsletter.
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