The upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic, titled Back To Black, has confirmed that actress Marisa Abela will be singing all of the songs herself for the film. The director of the film, Sam Taylor-Johnson, has said that Abela sang the entire movie from beginning to end.
Abela plays Winehouse in the film, which follows the singer’s rise to fame in London and her personal life. The film also stars Jack O’Connell as Winehouse’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, Eddie Marsan as her father Mitch, Juliet Cowan as her mother Janis, and Lesley Manville as her grandmother Cynthia.
After a successful test recording at Abbey Road Studios, Abela was able to perform the entire film, starting from the beginning. Abela also worked with Winehouse’s original band for the recordings. Taylor-Johnson remembers the recording experience with Winehouse’s band, saying that “they were just brimming with emotion, because it’s such a multi-layer of feelings for the people who were close to her and worked with her.”
According to Taylor-Johnson, Abela wasn’t initially confident in her singing abilities. However, after undertaking voice lessons, Abela was able to perform the entire movie herself. Despite her initial doubts, Abela’s audition impressed the director and producers alike. Taylor-Johnson recalls: “Marisa came in as Marisa – absolutely no cat-eye makeup or anything. 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?!'”
Back To Black is set to be released in cinemas on April 12th
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