'She stayed true to herself': Jack O'Connell respects Amy Winehouse's individuality

Jack O'Connell admires the individuality of Amy Winehouse.

The 33-year-old actor stars opposite Marisa Abela in the biopic 'Back to Black' as Amy's ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil and respects the way that the 'Rehab' hitmaker was able to remain authentic in the music industry during her tragically brief career.

Jack said at the picture's world premiere in London on Monday (08.04.24): "She didn't waver, she didn't let herself get parcelled and packaged and marketed. She stayed true to herself and as a young twenty something to do that and not give in, I just have a tremendous amount of respect for her."

The 'This Is England' actor had the opportunity to meet with Blake before filming and was struck by the "palpable admiration" he has for the late singer.

He recalled: "I didn't go in there to study him. It wasn't really for research, just out of courtesy. But what I did take away was every time he mentioned Amy, every time he talked about Amy – because a lot of the time we were just chatting about football – it came from a place of very palpable admiration. A mixed bag of emotions, sure, but it was all very genuine."

O'Connell also explained how he was wowed by Marisa's "wildly thrilling" depiction of Winehouse.

He said: "Marisa Abela is a phenomenal actor. How she adopted and embodied this physicality and personality was wildly thrilling."