Yahoo Movies Why Marisa Abela was cast as Amy Winehouse in Back to Black
Back to Black director Sam Taylor-Johnson has explained why Marisa Abela was cast as Amy Winehouse in her upcoming biopic.
The film, which released its first trailer earlier today, is set to chart the life and career of the iconic 'Valerie' singer, with Abela as the late songstress herself.
Speaking to Empire, Taylor-Johnson has revealed why Abela was the one to eventually land the role after extensive auditions.
"Most auditions, people would come in either with the headscarf, or with a bit of a slight back comb," the director began, before detailing what made Marisa different.
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"Marisa came in as Marisa – absolutely no cat-eye makeup or anything," Taylor-Johnson explained. "She was very sweet and very quiet. And then I turned on the camera, and she looks down the lens, and literally, we all just went, 'What?!'"
For the director, the choosing of the role came down to "impersonation" versus "inhabiting" the character of Amy.
"We'd seen some brilliant impersonations," Taylor-Johnson admitted. "But [Marisa] managed to just bring every fibre of her being in alignment with who Amy Winehouse was, and is, to many people. She inhabited her."
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The first trailer for Back to Black promises an exploration Winehouse's lasting impact, including "her life, her music [and] her legacy" including scenes set at Glastonbury 2008, all set to Marisa covering the titular song.
In the same interview, Taylor-Johnson revealed that it wasn't always the plan to have Marisa step into Amy's shoes vocally.
"When we first talked about it, my first question to [Marisa] was: 'Can you sing?' And she said: 'I can't'," she said. "I was thinking, maybe we'll use Amy's voice throughout, and we'll do it that way. She then went off after that audition – irrespective of whether she knew she'd got the part – and started training her voice.
"Now she sings the entire movie, beginning to end," Taylor-Johnson revealed. "I mean, it's a huge feat."
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The teaser also featured glimpses of the film's supporting cast, including Jack O'Connell as Blake Fielder-Civil, Eddie Marsan as Amy's father Mitch Winehouse and The Crown star Lesley Manville as Amy's grandmother Cynthia.
"Back to Black will focus on Amy's extraordinary genius, creativity and honesty that infused everything she did," reads the film's official synopsis.
"A journey that took her from the craziness and colour of '90s Camden High Street to global adoration – and back again, Back to Black crashes through the looking glass of celebrity to watch this journey from behind the mirror, to see what Amy saw, to feel what she felt."
Back to Black is set to be released in the UK and Ireland cinemas on April 12.
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