Chasing Amy: How Marisa Abela became Amy Winehouse for ‘Back to Black’

By HILARY FOX
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — There’s no point asking Marisa Abela to sing Amy Winehouse songs at karaoke. Her friends have already tried and failed. But you can see her sing and become Winehouse in the new film “Back to Black,” which opens in the U.S. on Friday. Best known for the HBO series “Industry,” Abela did not want her performance to feel like a mere impersonation of the iconic British singer. Now 27, Abela is the same age as Winehouse was when she died in 2011. She tells The Associated Press filming in Winehouse’s haunts in North London’s Camden neighborhood added authenticity to the Sam Taylor-Johnson film.