Jack O'Connell defends Back to Black following criticism
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Back to Black's Jack O'Connell has defended the new film adaptation dramatising Amy Winehouse's life.
Awarded two stars in Digital Spy's review, director Sam Taylor-Johnson's musical drama finds Industry actor Marisa Abela donning the iconic beehive hairdo, with O'Connell portraying Winehouse's partner Blake Fielder-Civil and Eddie Marsan as dad Mitch Winehouse.
When the first pictures from the Back to Black set were released last year, criticism was shared on social media as fans deemed the project "tasteless" for being made so soon after the singer's death. Speaking to The Times, O'Connell seems to disagree with that sentiment.
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"What is the acceptable timescale of that? Put it like this: if we were trying to portray her in any form of negative light, then that might be a valid point and I can understand one or two people pre-empting that," he said.
"But if you talk to Sam, we're not even calling this a biopic, it's a celebration. I can get with that."
Moving on from public criticism, The North Water star O'Connell also recalled meeting up with the real-life Fielder-Civil for "an afternoon".
"He was quite open. He spoke so highly of Amy. There was something so genuine in how he spoke, it was unquestionable to me that he loved her. That informed how I wanted to portray him."
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In the immediate aftermath of Winehouse's passing, Fielder-Civil was blamed by some for her drug addiction and the subsequent consequences, having introduced her to heroin.
"He wasn't overly keen [on meeting me]," revealed O'Connell. "'Cos obviously it's going into a phase of his life that is very personal and he harbours a mixed bag of emotions.
"But a part of my analysis is that we're talking about [being in your] mid-twenties. God knows what we were getting up to in our mid-twenties. You wouldn't want to be [looking at] that under a microscope and still be held accountable for it today."
Back to Black is released in UK cinemas on April 12 and in US cinemas on May 17.
For more on drug addiction and dependency, including information and support, please visit FRANK or Action on Addiction.
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