Amy Winehouse fans criticise Back to Black producers for failing to use singer’s voice

Amy Winehouse fans have criticised the vocal ability of the actress who stars in an upcoming biopic after the release of a new clip, as a voice coach said she “doesn’t sound like” the late singer.

Marisa Abela, who is playing the late Rehab singer in the upcoming film Back to Black, trained her voice for three months before filming.

However, a new clip of her depicting the early stages of Winehouse’s singing career has caused controversy online. Some fans branded the vocals “offensive”.

One posted: “Wait, this is supposed to be Amy Winehouse?” while another asked the filmmakers: “Why would you guys not use Amy’s voice?”

Vocal coach Julia Miles, who has worked with Little Mix and has coached successful contestants on the X Factor and The Voice, said: “It’s tough because … she got her dream role, and now not only does she not look like her, she doesn’t sound like her.”

“It was always going to be a really tricky one,” she added.

Abela, 27, will portray Winehouse’s whirlwind years living in London and her journey to fame in the film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, which is being released on April 12.

Winehouse died in 2011 at the age of 27. She was found unresponsive at her home in Camden. Her cause of death was revealed to be accidental alcohol poisoning after two inquests. The singer had struggled with addiction, using heroin and cocaine among other drugs.

Taylor-Johnson told The Sunday Times Culture Magazine that the film was not controversial “in any way,” adding: “Noise will always be big about something like this, but nobody has really seen it yet and we’ve made it through Amy’s words, music, her perspective.”

For the singing in the biopic, the initial plan had been to use original Winehouse vocals, but Abela’s training four times a week for two hours at a time meant the actress’s voice could be used.

‘You’ve got to get the body right’

Her vocal coach, Anne-Marie Speed, said: “It’s full-time preparation, it’s like an athlete. You’ve got to get the body working in the right way to truly produce the voice.”

Ms Miles, who has been a vocal coach for 14 years, said: “Amy Winehouse was something very, very different.

“And I’ve heard Marisa do a few bits and pieces and her voice does sound lovely, but it sounds too clean.

“I think what we heard of Amy’s voice was very, very organic ... So to try and actually replicate that on a non-singer … I think they’ve just tried to make it sound too perfect, and you can’t work on perfection when you’re trying to sing an Amy Winehouse song.”

Meanwhile, Chris Palmer, the head vocal coach for Guildford School of Acting, defended the decision to use Abela’s vocals in the film.

‘Why should a talented singer mime?’

He said: “Why should a director of a film biopic suggest to a talented performer such as Marisa Abela, who is well trained and has been cast for her acting abilities as well as her singing, that she should mime?

“From a personal perspective, if I were watching a biopic and the performer was miming I would find this somewhat incongruous.”

It marks the first major role for Brighton-born Abela, who previously starred in the TV show Industry, about young finance graduates.

Speaking about portraying Winehouse, the actress said she would have never put herself “on the chopping block” unless she felt she could do it.

“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.”

Acting roles should not be categorised, says Marsan

Eddie Marsan has said that a non-Jewish actor such as himself should be able to play Jewish roles as he argued that actors should not be confined to “categories”.

The 55-year-old, who stars as Winehouse’s father Mitch, who is Jewish, has claimed that only being able to play what you identify with will “take away acting opportunity”.

Speaking to The Observer, he said: “A Jewish actor should be able to play non-Jewish roles and a non-Jewish actor should be able to play Jewish roles.

“A gay actor should be able to play straight roles and a straight actor should be able to play gay roles...You need to categorise people to measure and address inequality.”

He added: “But the problem is if you then confine people in categories, you take away acting opportunity.”

Relentless abuse

The actor has previously spoken out about the “relentless” anti-Semitic abuse he faced online for playing a Jewish character in the four-part TV series Ridley Road, about a surge of fascist sentiment in London in the 1960s.

He was also cast as a Jewish character, Manny Rubens, in the biographical comedy-drama Sixty Six.

Asked if his “distinctive face” had been his fortune, he told The Observer that his face “represents the other”.

Speaking about playing Mr Winehouse, Marsan said: “I’d never have done this film if it sanitised – or demonised – Mitch. Life is more complex than that.”