Up-and-coming English actress Marisa Abela has emerged as the frontrunner to play Amy Winehouse in the upcoming biopic about the singer’s life, Back to Black. The actress, who has recently garnered fame for starring on the acclaimed HBO and BBC television series, Industry, is in discussions for the movie role, but has not yet been officially cast as the late musician, Variety is reporting.
Since its inception, the filmmakers behind Back to Black, which is also the name of the English singer-songwriter’s second studio album, have always intended to cast a newcomer as the six-time Grammy Award-winner. The movie’s producers have stated that they’d prefer to hire a newcomer to the entertainment business, rather than a more established pop star.
The 25-year-old Abela is known for playing the privileged but troubled Yasmin Kara-Hanani on Industry, a London-set financial thriller show. The drama is set to premiere its second season this Monday, August 1.
Besides Industry, Abela has also kicked off her acting career by playing Ellie Sutherland on the Sky TV drama series, COBRA. She’ll also be seen alongside James Norton in the upcoming crime thriller film, Rogue Agent. She’s also one of the stars of the forthcoming drama movie, She Is Love, opposite Haley Bennett and Sam Riley.
Abela, who graduated from London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 2019, was also recently cast in Oscar-nominated writer-director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie screen adaptation. However, her role in the romantic comedy hasn’t yet been revealed.
Abela’s background is Maltese, Libyan, Russian and Polish, and she’s also of Jewish heritage. Her religious background is a factor in the producers’ decision to consider her for the biopic’s leading role, as they wish to be as authentic as possible to Winehouse’s own heritage.
However, the Brighton-born actress hasn’t sung in any of her film and television credits so far. But her RADA profile indicates that she can indeed sing and is an alto, which is actually a lower vocal register than Winehouse’s own range.
Back to Black was penned by BAFTA Award-winning English screenwriter, Matt Greenhalgh. The biopic will be directed by Fifty Shades of Grey helmer, Sam Taylor-Johnson, who considered Winehouse to be a close friend. The filmmakers previously collaborated on the 2009 biopic, Nowhere Boy. European studio Studiocanal is producing Back to Black with Alison Owen, Debra Hayward and Tracey Seaward.
Winehouse who’s best known for her hit soul-R&B single, Rehab, which garnered her three Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year, died at age 27 of alcohol poisoning in 2011. She released two albums, Frank and Back to Black, during her career.
Mitch Winehouse, the late singer’s father, fully supports the Back to Black biopic, despite being portrayed in a negative light in the Academy Award-winning 2015 documentary, Amy. Mitch Winehouse also participated in the 2021 BBC documentary, Reclaiming Amy, which marked the 10-year anniversary of his daughter’s death.
Owen and Hayward have been attached to the Back to Black biopic as producers for several years. The Winehouse estate first signed a deal for the movie in 2018.
At that time, Mitch Winehouse denied suggestions that Lady Gaga was being considered to play his daughter. “I wouldn’t mind betting it would be an unknown, young, English — London, cockney — actress who looks a bit like Amy,” he told Britiain’s The Sun.
“What we want is somebody to portray Amy in the way that she was…the funny, brilliant, charming and horrible person that she was. There’s no point really me making the film because I’m her dad. But to get the right people to do it, that’s very important, and we will,” he added.