Marisa Abela On The Daunting Task Of Portraying Amy Winehouse In “Back To Black”

Actor Marisa Abela tells Stephen how she tackled the challenge of playing beloved entertainer Amy Winehouse in the new biopic, “Back to Black,” which hits theaters this Friday.
#Colbert #MarisaAbela #BacktoBlack #AmyWinehouse
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Stephen Colbert brings his signature satire and comedy to THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT, the #1 show in late night, where he talks with an eclectic mix of guests about what is new and relevant in the worlds of politics, entertainment, business, music, technology and more. Featuring bandleader Louis Cato and “THE LATE SHOW band,” the Peabody Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated show is broadcast from the historic Ed Sullivan Theater. Stephen Colbert took over as host, executive producer and writer of THE LATE SHOW on Sept. 8, 2015.

[@donnaparks5815]

Amy really had some magic and it feels right for Marisa to phrase it, “capture Amy’s magic.”

[@JusticeConstantine]

How amazing of Marisa Abela to still stick to being in this role even though she didn't know she would be singing Amy Winehouse's songs in the film. Great interview Stephen.

[@jennifers17]

She did sing, but being just like Amy Winehouse was amazing! I saw another interview that said she did sing and took drama in school, this she had to practice daily to get that voice down. She took the entire persona! AmazingAmazing

[@jennifers17]

She said she went went to Guildhall school of music and acting. Pretty famous people out of there. She trained for this. Amazing actor

[@mendozaartstudiollc1354]

The film really needs to be recognized for the acting from the entire cast.

[@mariosanchezgumiel7757]

Agreed!

[@warwicks2780]

Came for the Amy, stayed for the Marisa.

[@444madziia]

LITERALLY

[@DuffyChy]

She did amazing! Kudos for you girl, you killed it ✨✨

[@mjpb1992]

Saw the film yesterday. Marisa was STUNNING as Amy, I found myself forgetting it wasn't actually her. I think we are gonna see great things from this young woman.

[@adrianreyes8135]

Just saw the film and she really knocked it out of the park!!! Beautiful movie and performance

[@catmejia6109]

Just saw the movie and thought she did a GREAT JOB❤❤❤, in some scenes she looked and captured the essence of Amy

[@IJayAmLegend]

The *World of The Arts,* is truly where souls can flourish. Great work, Marisa. So sad Amy left, so soon.

[@AthanImmortal]

I liked the movie clip, however terrified she was initially she nailed it.

[@zamb323]

Have seen this film Twice and it’s a wonderful Tribute to Amy.

[@thesisuteam]

I miss Amy! Great talent 👍👏😅

[@s_.777]

she would’ve hated this.

[@tamaramontgomery631]

Loved Amy Winehouse !!❤😢

[@beadsy-dl5up]

She is a BRILLIANT singer in this movie

[@narjissmihraje3835]

Singer yes actrice for this role no . Sorry

[@beadsy-dl5up]

@@narjissmihraje3835 She is NOT an actrice whatever that is

[@morgenthaler]

She's delightful. And she looks like a beautiful mix between Madonna and Julia Louis-Dreyfus

[@bryanergau6682]

You just dated yourself HARD.

[@bryanergau6682]

You're right though.

[@boathousejoed1126]

yes, I was getting JLD vibes from her. Shes charming.

[@effdonahue6595]

@@bryanergau6682you said hard, heheh he, Beavis

[@melanies.6030]

​@@bryanergau6682So did you.

[@pollytiks3885]

Just saw this movie; blown away. Was unfamiliar with Amy’s music but I want to look into it after seeing this.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

That was a sweet and charming interview of someone you just met, Stephen. Well done.

[@lavatr8322]

I would shy away even if she looks at me. ᴵᵐ ²⁷ ʸʳ ᵒˡᵈ ᵐᵃⁿ ᵇᵗʷ

[@darnitthelma4247]

I thought she did an amazing job! Saw it last night wow! Jack who played Blake was phenomenal too!

[@josefshopovich7584]

She's very nice. I'm happy to hear the movie will be available digitally starting on May 27

[@virginia5618]

Moving story. Amazing acting and Marissa deserves an Oscar! ❤

[@MarkoTiano]

I just seen the film and i think the film was great and Marisa was superb. I was very surprised how well she imitated Amy's singing voice, definitely a great actress and a great singer. RIP A. Winehouse.

[@siulumlion]

My friend was in London trying to find the Shaftsbury Arms hotel, and someone mentioned it was on Gower St., and he said "Ongowa street, like in Tarzan?"

[@nataliejademermaid]

Cannot wait to see this! Marisa, you are beautiful, talented, and brave!

[@dielaughing73]

Movie was great and she was spellbinding. I didn't know her story so i can't comment on that side of it but it was very enjoyable

[@Mexicanita1904]

This movie was really good. Marisa became Amy. Her singing was amazing!

[@dodgers1401]

Just saw it. She did really great! I hope she gets nominated for an Oscar. You could tell she worked hard to nail this role.

[@rena7123]

I loved her in the movie🖤

[@cinne2135]

Great interview, Stephen.

[@sparkesman1980]

Saw the film yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it,, voice was spot on...... cannot understand why so many people have criticized it so much......get a life for God sake

[@alejor255]

Her hard work showed off !

[@HelenAlcover-xy6gh]

I watched the film and I was impressed. People are really being hard on her and the film. She is really good.

[@alexandermatthewsmusic]

Marisa was great in Amy's film... I cried a bit at the opening few scenes seeing Amy so happy in her parents house and I know there was criticism for glancing over a few issues of Amy's life but I'm glad I didn't have to cry again in that movie I never liked those tough times... Undeniable but I like to remember her happy... So unsure sitting down to that film but I guess thanks to all involved I think they went about it the right way... I think Marissa said Amy's death was a trauma? For the country and god knows there's no need for another one at this point.... For me at least ha thanks Marisa 🥰

[@NusretTaras-kp9mv]

Great Interview

[@lindaward3156]

can't wait, I really liked Amy Winehouse, she brought a new kind of music in this boomer's life and that was unusual for me. I was disheartened when i found out the news, a loss for all of us

[@nowthenzen]

Taking on an icon and cautionary tale like this is really quite something.

[@NuovaLex-hb5zf]

Great actress!!!!!!

[@mariosanchezgumiel7757]

I didn't know who she was until I saw her in the movie. Her performance is simply superb.

[@davidthomas-ot4cl]

Marisa is amazing in the film! She sings nearly as good as Amy. It's an enjoyable film, go see it! You'll come out singing all of the songs!

[@davidthomas-ot4cl]

@@hairiseverything compared to her later years Marisa actually sings better.

[@mkhtarhosiny9291]

❤ cuteeeeeee boy

[@eitafilmes4959]

Amooooooooo

[@rabnori4836]

WoW! ❤

[@eclectickimmer]

It sounds weird to write this, but it's STILL too soon for me. Amy moved me so deeply that I have no interest in someone playing her.

[@SJC49]

They are honouring her memory! Why in the world is it too soon for YOU? How long would you like them to wait - 20, 30 years?

[@linamarie84]

People who are true Amy Winehouse fans know that Marissa did not do her Justice in the film. You are entitled to like it and then there are others of us who are entitled not to like it. End of story

[@linamarie84]

They did not honor her memory whatsoever. The movie dropped off in the middle of nowhere and focused solely on her drug & alcohol use nothing else. That's my opinion which is obvious but I'll just say that so that it's not repeat it as if it's not. Oh and lastly there's a difference between dislike and hate just FYI

[@alabamaworley1707]

There’s a part in the movie when she’s in a hotel with Blake and he presents a ring box. I was expecting a beautiful ring or earrings. It was two crack rocks all lit up. I can’t stop thinking about it. Hysterical.

[@studio500]

The movie was GREAT!!! 👏👏👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️

[@xyPERSON]

Most of the reviews I read for this film commended Marisa Abela for her performance as Amy Winehouse but criticized the film overall because it focused far too much on her toxic marriage to her husband and not nearly enough on her artistic talent. Also, there was an issue with how her father was portrayed in the film as caring and loving when in reality he used her fame and notoriety to benefit himself.

[@leagarner3675]

Somehow that doesn't ring true for me that she didn't know that she would be singing Amy. Or that she didn't know she could do it. C'mon, its iconic and she was oblivious? Doubt it.

[@linamarie84]

I agree completely. Also in another interview she doesn't even know what she's talking about and rambles on about how she had to really hone in to y Amy Winehouse or eyeliner and things like that because maybe she was hiding behind a mask and was just trying to make something profound other nothing. She talks about not singing in public but then auditioning for a role where she's playing a singer but then says that she didn't know she was going to sing and then goes on to say how they could have used Amy but then she wanted to sing.. People are very strange sometimes.

[@hoover728]

In many musician biopics they just lip sync to the original recordings. Not sure why y’all are turning this into a big conspiracy.

[@leagarner3675]

Ignore the Troll. The only one triggered is hoover.

[@hoover728]

@@leagarner3675 Triggered? Troll? Lol. Just a voice of reason.

[@jennifers17]

She was in another interview. She was in Guildhall school for music and acting. That's public singing. She certainly wasn't just singing a few karaoke songs. It was more than that. It's amazing! She took that persona ! Great singing & acting

[@speakoutsmith2072]

Her impression of an American accent is spot on!

[@lavatr8322]

Where is it , put the timestamp

[@speakoutsmith2072]

@@lavatr8322 um... I thought she's an American who impersonated an English person (Amy Winehouse)

[@hoover728]

What? You seem a bit confused.

[@asynchronicity]

Tough, tough shoes to fill😮

[@user-eq2dx2jp6v]

❤❤❤❤❤❤😂😂

[@jennifers17]

So, she did get up and sing. Guildhall school wouldn't give weekly lessens to someone who was tone deaf. Was she in the Barbie movie... they did ask people to try out. So she sang just needed to learn Amy and her style. She looks and sounds much like her already! She did public singing, I saw her say it on another interview

[@lavatr8322]

If a woman with that accent and such modest clothing came towards me ... I'm done, I I gonna be weak ..... my heart would gush out

[@samsong24]

She was great. The film was ho-hum, but her performance was committed and strong.

[@user-eq2dx2jp6v]

Be careful dear stivie 😂😂😂😂❤❤❤ guess what for 😂😂❤

[@user-if6jc3lr3y]

Хорошенькая Дама 👍❤️🚩

[@forestdukes7545]

The Princess is in her sabbatical, we need to get her out❤️❤️❤️🎤 #SaveCindy❤️

[@BlakieTT]

Mf'er look like a young Rachel Weisz... I'm in love 😍

[@melanies.6030]

Really? That why you called her a "Mf'er"?

[@BlakieTT]

@@melanies.6030 lol, you misunderstand me (but that's understandable). I didn't mean it in any other way than "DAAAAAMN!", but that didn't come across well. 🤷🏽‍♂

[@RBRN_69]

She’s got that Austin Butler Elvis thing still going on with her voice lol

[@wallberlin]

"Hutspuh" 😂😂😂😢

[@boathousejoed1126]

Chutzpah

[@wallberlin]

@boathousejoed1126 . . . Is that what they said, tho?

[@AntonSlizzardhands]

Some of the scenes she did on the show Industry ....

[@delivrex]

who else knows her from Five Dates?

[@Prodicaljonahs]

Seinfeld's female actress to the ttttttttt

[@EllisEllis-qp2fb]

Great movie "Back to Black", go see it.

[@wolfgangfalck1250]

She actually did a really great job singing Amy's tunes. The film on the other hand is whitewashing everybody, the documentary from 2015 does a better job portraing Amy's life. I'll reccommend to watch both if you like Amy.

[@Fighting450]

All my songs are 80+ tracks per songs Acoustic and live versions excluded So u mix all 80 tracks And u chill for a few weeks then master it so it takes awhile

[@PEDRITOPH0618]

👀😍🖤💎

[@RBRN_69]

Amy would have HATED this lol

[@forestdukes7545]

I’m back guys!! Nina Gould tried to get me barred from KZbin for saying THEYVE TRIED TO TAKE THE OSCAR AWAY FROM AMY DAWSON THE PRINCESS OF HOLLYWOOD!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Fighting450]

All me

[@midday2706]

No disrespect to Marisa Abela and her acting abilities. But If only the movie Back to Black would have focused on Amy’s upbringing and wonderful lyric writing abilities and amazing vocals. They basically ruined Amy Winehouse character and talent by basing this movie on the blame game and alcoholism. As if we didn’t already know that. Can you imagine if the movie “Selena” would have been based only on her killer Fan Club Manager Yolanda Saldívar and Selena’s Father? It wouldn’t have done Selena’s character, persona and talent any justice. It’s an awful shame they couldn’t give Amy Winehouse peace and rest by at least making this Back to Black movie about her childhood and music making talent.

[@yurielcundangan9090]

Jen Hudson’s 😮

[@yurielcundangan9090]

JHudson is❤

[@palmstring1]

After watching the movie on a late night (5/15/2024), I appreciated the songs, but not the artist personalitywise from the beginning. I had mixed reactions with the paparazzi tailing her like roaches.

[@Fighting450]

UTCT’s probably about 80 tracks yeah

[@Fighting450]

Yeah sometimes the bass isn’t thick enough so u just Go ahead and add another 10 layers to it And u sidechain all of those together so it’d sound harmonical together Dream

[@BlakieTT]

Hello darling 😍 Hi Marisa too 😏

[@Monika-mh2je]

I don't know, it's just me ,but I always feel english actors actresses speaking more intelligent.😉

[@TheCatBilbo]

Biopics are notoriously difficult - it's a fiction based upon fact but inevitably causes issues. I think Marisa is great as Amy but the film isn't a good enough telling of the truth.

[@scratchydemus]

On a positive, I'm glad the picture highlighted Amy's drug use unlike the Whitney Houston movie where drug-taking was mentioned for 2 seconds. Lol

[@darareachphon]

I am already Sonyed.

[@mcfishyfirst253]

#NODIDDY

[@nmichave]

She could easily play a young Madonna too. Looks just like her.

[@Fighting450]

no

[@user-jc5zd4pw5m]

Guest speaks proper English, great.

[@makeguyver8596]

Remember Steve actresses born after 2009 are actually actors. :)

[@Fighting450]

A vocal is one track

[@NewMessage]

I ain't sayin' no no no to this.

[@Fighting450]

Only GO! Is about 50 tracks The others are Quite hefty 😸

[@user-go8oy6jy1u]

This film feels like a cheap telenovela that revolves solely around one aspect of Amy's life - her love for Blake Fielder-Civil. However, I expect a musician biopic to tell me the development of the artist and their music. Amy Winehouse was funny, highly intelligent, brutally honest and, especially at an early age, a self-confident young woman who developed her own style and musical style. With Back to Black she achieved the fame she never wanted, and which was later responsible for her death, among other things. As a fan, you were horrified to see how her bulimia, the press, her drug and alcohol addiction and an environment that did not protect her but continued to exploit her (Mitch, her father, Raye Cosbert, her manager, Blake Fielder-Civil, her (Ex )-husband), drove her to her death. Amy Winehouse had a complicated personality that the film doesn't do justice to. Here Amy is shown as a self-absorbed and aggressive woman who doesn't evoke any sympathy from me. All of the characters are extremely one-dimensional; most of them don't even have any external resemblance to the living people. Except Mitch Winehouse, who in the film, unlike in real life, is always at her side. Marisa really tries to make the most of the role, but at no point did I buy Amy from her. Her vocal performance is also passable, it's a good thing Amy's music wasn't used, it would have been sacrilege. Important stages in Amy's life are simply left out (the recordings with Mark Ronson in New York of Back to Black - after all, the title of the film) or the Dap-Kings (her backing band in the USA). When she receives the Grammys, her acceptance speech simply omits her words: for my Blake, who is in jail. And so it goes on, it's twisted, times are changed, important events are misrepresented, e.g. it wasn't Blake who brought her to the girl groups, but Amy discovered her on her own, as did the iconic Beehive that came from her, and not, as in Portrayed in the film by her grandmother Cynthia. Blake's arrest took place in a different apartment, etc. Add to that the countless mistakes in the clothing and shoes, it all just seems cheap. The biggest outrage occurs at the end of the film: Amy had written Back to Black about Blake when he left her and she slipped into depression. Here it is presented as if the song had to do with her grandmother's death! The entire film shows how little respect or knowledge the producers have for Amy and her music. I can only recommend Asif Kapadia's film: Amy - The Girl behind the Name to everyone, which showed Amy as she was. There are also many good concerts of hers on KZbin such as the North Sea Jazz Festival (2004) or Dingle (2006).

[@scratchydemus]

Wow. I was wondering when the Mark Ronson part was coming. They left that out. Marisa didn't manage to capture Amy's essence initially but did so in the middle of the film when she got the beehive hair style. Her accent was questionable at times but she did a decent job playing Amy Winehouse 👏

[@unklebilly]

Stephen referred to her as "actress" aka "little actor" and she quickly corrected him. Love ya anyway Colbert!

[@fredricclack7137]

🍷🏠🙄

[@user-eq2dx2jp6v]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@petejames415]

Should have gone to UCL hun😢

[@Fighting450]

So a song’d probably takes 3 months

[@Mrmapleleaffan13]

I don’t think that as much of a change from a real voice

[@dewiisdewi8040]

is it me or does she look like britney with darker hair?

[@tonelocrian]

Amy Winehouse also played guitar well 😊 ... it so obvious this girl doesn't play guitar 😢

[@matthewjames2565]

Exploitation of a legacy, milking it for every cent they can, an actress that bears zero resemblance, a script written as laughably bad as most of the other recent biopics, deliberate manipulation of facts in her life story (you can guess who was behind this), and lastly, did I mention this is just an exploitative film to keep milking a dead singer's legacy barely 13 years since she died? It's been ONLY 13 years. No one asked for a biopic. No one needed one. This biopic obsession is another nail in Hollywood's coffin. Beating a dead horse.

[@linamarie84]

Well yeah they should have put Amy's voice over hers. She talks about providing the magic etc well they could have found someone who fit the part better. The movie was horrible

[@cristianosouza7052]

I'm so sorry for Marisa but this movie is just Amy's father propaganda! Totally bullsh1t!

[@simbahunter8894]

The film is doing poorly - probably because Amy Winehouse wasn't a big enough name. I never heard of her until she died.

[@petejames415]

Just like Asif Kapadia’s documentary did ‘poorly’ because no one knows who the hell she is😂

[@markphc99]

The reviews for this film all say it’s lousy

[@beadsy-dl5up]

She was excellent at playing the part

[@BozeDoesGodsWork]

The actress was AMAZING but the script was questionable. Mainly because of the Mitch thing and her using drugs before Blake. Those were the two things that pissed me off because they aren’t accurate. My third grievance is the fact that they didn’t show just what a phenomenal voice she had. They only highlighted her song writing.

[@markphc99]

@@BozeDoesGodsWork the actress looked the part- I can hardly blame her if her singing wasn't as good, but the thing that annoys me about almost all biopics - the inaccuracies and distortions from the real story - the more you know about the person , the worse it get - but that's hollywood for you.

[@melanies.6030]

​@@markphc99Hollywood? British movie studio, British screenwriter, British producers, British director, British actors, and filmed in UK. Yup, totally Hollywood.

[@markphc99]

@@melanies.6030 You're correct ,but I mean't it as shorthand for the film industry as a whole