Back in Black: Is Actress Marisa Abella Really Singing in the Movie Legendary Amy?

In July 2022, StudioCanal announced that actress Marissa Abella will play British singer Amy Winehouse in the Sam Taylor-Johnson biopic Back to Black. The 27-year-old British actress is known to series fans for her roles as Yasmin Kara-Hannan in the series Industry and Ellie in the series Cobra. Back to Black is his first major film role.

When her agent told her about the auditions for the feature film, Marisa Abella took some time to think before going to the casting. The young woman wanted to make sure she had something to bring.

He confides in our microphone: “I took this time because I wanted to read the script first to get a sense of the story we were going to tell. Then I wanted to do more research on Amy to see if there was anything I could contribute, if there were things I heard about her that I could distill in a way that made my story make sense. Once I found these connections and this feeling that was growing inside of me, I started to understand it and agreed to audition. “

And the latter immediately stood out from other candidates. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson says he’s met plenty of young women who looked like Amy Winehouse or dressed like the singer in auditions, but there was always something missing.

“It was very difficult to know who was going to play Amy Winehouse. I didn’t want anyone to copy her. It wasn’t the right way. I met so many young women who could sing like her. Or who looked like her, but I wanted I found someone who looked like him, and it was Maris, who could embody him and understand what he was doing.

Marisa understood Amy’s choice and that’s the most important thing.

The first time I met Marisa, she was herself, not disguised. And talking to her, I saw that she could play Amy. Little by little I saw his transformation and it was quite extraordinary. She will never be the same as Amy. There is no one. And to have someone who looks like him but can’t carry the character, his story, and understand his soul is pointless. Marissa was a little bit like her, but above all, she had that connection, she understood Amy’s choices, and that’s the most important thing.”

An actor who can’t sing and yet…

In the beginning, Marisa Abella He did not know the song. This was not a real problem for the filmmaker, as he had the rights to use Amy Winehouse’s songs, so Sam Taylor-Johnson thought of adding the late singer’s voice in post-production.

He explains: “When I first met Marissa, she told me she couldn’t sing. I told her that wasn’t a problem. I have a whole catalog of music, I was going to add to it later, but I still told her to take singing lessons so I could understand how to move her jaw. , face and look convincing.

And slowly I saw her change, I heard her voice change, she took shape and I told myself that it was possible, she could finally sing for a film. And as we got closer to shooting, we realized we could use his voice. But that’s because he worked too hard. It was incredible. Marisa is a chameleon, she is brilliant in many ways. But his work is impressive. “

4 months to sing like Amy Winehouse

And the audience will be really surprised to find out that it is indeed Marisa Abella who sings the songs in the movie, because her voice is so close to that of Amy Winehouse. In just 4 months, the actor managed to learn to sing.

At our meeting to promote the film, the latter spoke in detail about his training: “Four months before the shooting, I started working intensively. For four months, I took singing lessons for about two hours a day. Then I also listened to everything I could listen to. I listened to the two albums he wrote: ‘Lioness’ and ‘Live Lounge’, but also The singers that influenced him, the music he listened to and shaped his voice and his writing, Ella Fitzgerald, Lauryn Hill, Billie Holiday, the Ronettes, Shangri-Las, in short, everything that was around him as a child, as well as heavier jazz in the albums.

The most important thing was that I could translate his emotional story into a song.

The most important thing for me was to translate his emotional story into a song. So I had to get to the point where you could recognize Amy technically, so you could tell an emotional story through the songs.

And the vocal output is stunning. However, Marisa Abela tells us that she was very afraid to perform the title “Tears By Herself”. He adds to our microphone: “It’s a very difficult song. The range is huge. He is very fast. It uses a lot of different resonances. There’s a lot of bass at certain points, but also a lot of chest, a lot of bass, and it’s iconic.”

Significant weight loss

Apart from the singing, the other big prep work was the physical labor to look like Amy Winehouse and show her evolution. The film begins when Amy makes her debut in secret jazz clubs when she is only 17 years old and ends when she leaves rehab before her death at the age of 27.

Over the course of 10 years, the star physically changed a lot and lost a lot of weight due to drugs and alcohol. Therefore, Marisa Abela also had to lose weight. The actress tells us that the diet began during the 4-month preparation and filmed scenes where Amy Winehouse was at her most vulnerable first, so that she would have time to get back into shape. Therefore, the shooting of the film was done in an antichronological direction.

“We started filming when Amy was at her most fragile, in the grip of drug and alcohol addiction. During the four months of preparation, I was able to reach my most vulnerable point. Low, so a week after the start. During filming I could start working to a healthy point because the most important thing for me was that we could see the change.

Early in her career, Amy had an insatiable appetite for music, life, art and love. And when people hunger for him, they want to know more about him, about his life, he withers. And this transformation was important for me. I was followed by a trainer and a nutritionist, it was very difficult, but necessary.”

Apart from her weight, Marisa Abela had to spend a lot of time on makeup every day. “I spent two and a half hours a day in the makeup chair. When Amy was younger it was quicker because there was less to do, but between the wig, eyeliner and tattoos it was long“- he adds.

A tough shoot for the actress, who didn’t hesitate to give herself up to give her life back, earning the singer 5 Grammys. Back black It’s currently in theaters.