Amy Winehouse biopic

Marisa Abela found it difficult to detach herself from the role

Marisa Abela in the new film "Back to Black".(Bild: Screenshot youtube.com/studiocanal)

British actress Marisa Abela (27), who plays soul singer Amy Winehouse, who died in 2011, in a new biopic, found it difficult to detach herself from the role.

"You see life through her eyes during filming. And it takes time to change that. I had to regain my view of the world and get rid of Amy's," Abela told the German Press Agency.

"It takes time to find yourself again"
"When you play a character, especially a real person, there's not much room left for yourself in time," explained Abela.

Marisa Abela at the premiere of "Back to Black".(Bild: APA/AFP/BENJAMIN CREMEL)

The actress found it difficult to detach herself from the Amy Winehouse role.(Bild: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

"We all have thoughts in our heads all the time, our own feelings, our personality. That all disappears because the character takes up that space," says the actress. "It then takes a while to find yourself again."

"Back to Black" - love affair in focus
In the film "Back to Black" by director Sam Taylor-Johnson ("Fifty Shades of Grey"), which opens in cinemas on Thursday, the focus is on the love affair with Winehouse's long-term partner Blake - characterized by alcohol, hard drugs and fights. The musician ("Rehab") died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27.