21 March 2024 , 00:01
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It was a role so big, she was unsure she could do it justice.
But actor Marisa Abela has told how she now feels a strong connection with Amy Winehouse after making the biopic Back To Black. Marisa told Harper's Bazaar her first instinct was to say "no that's too much, too huge," when hearing about the project.
But having grown up in a jewish household herself she says her close feelings to Amy have grown during the project, undoubtedly her biggest screen role to date.
Marisa, 27, said: "The more I got to know her, the more I felt a major connection to this spiky Jewish girl from London who had a lot to say and was really quite unafraid. I remembered how I felt when I was young, seeing that woman who was proud and cool, wearing a big Star of David in between a cleavage and a nice bra. I understood what a Friday-night dinner would look like in her home, the humour in her family. I loved how effervescent she was, how huge a soul, how she just permeated any room she was in. But also, her relationship to her art form, and wanting to be good. That was the most important thing.
Marisa feared the role would be 'too huge' for her (TWITTER)"Once I framed her in that way, I felt I was in a position to take on this role. I never wanted to trick anyone. Sometimes you audition and you say you can ride a horse, speak Spanish or sword fight, when you can’t. I was never, ever going to do that here. I was not going to put myself on the chopping block unless I knew I could do this."
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Taking the role - and her look - very seriously, Marisa prepared for the role with a strict regime to shrink to the star's slender frame. "I had help to do it safely; I consulted a dietician and was being monitored. Feeling frailer and smaller helped – I hadn’t understood, before, how much that affects your tempo. During her Frank era [in 2005 when her first album was released], Amy is fast and loud and boisterous with her arms, her movements are big. Once I started to change, I realised that you can’t physically make those same movements. It’s uncomfortable to sit. You’re tired, you’re hungry, you’re more exposed."
She opens up to Harpers Bazaar
Marisa feels a connection to AmyMarisa hopes fans will appreciate her performance and that she has done her legacy justice when Back To Black is released on April 12.
She said: "With hindsight, it’s difficult not to view Amy’s story as a tragic one. Her story has a tragic ending, and tragedy throughout. But Amy’s life didn’t just happen to her. She created a world of music that people appre- ciate and enjoy, and it’s about bringing people back to the girl from Camden who changed the world with her music.’
"I fell in love with Amy so deeply through this process – all the facets of her. I feel such a responsibility to her and her legacy."
- The full interview is on the Harpers Bazaar website.