Mitch joked he wasn’t happy with his casting in Back To Black (Picture: Getty Images)
Mitch Winehouse has joked he’d rather be portrayed by Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney over Eddie Marsan, who he dubs ‘not very good looking’.
The 72-year-old father to the late Amy Winehouse is backing the new biopic, Back To Black, which will document the jazz legend’s rise to fame and heady London days before her death aged 27 in 2011 from alcohol poisoning.
As a friend of the You Know I’m Know Good singer, director Sam Taylor-Johnson aims to offer an alternative perspective to the lengthy 2015 documentary, Amy, which shone a harsh light on her father Mitch.
At the time, Mitch said the film, which was met with huge critical acclaim, was ‘a lie’ and portrayed him in the ‘worst possible light’.
But now the former London cabbie has given his blessing to the Back To Black filmmakers, after he claimed to have sent the first script because ‘it made [him] look like a saint, like [he] should be knighted’.
‘It was too much,’ he told The Mail on Sunday, as he also joked he’d love to see himself portrayed by the Gravity actor as opposed to 54-year-old Eddie.
Mitch’s daughter died 12 years ago (Picture: Getty Images)
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George Clooney would have been a shock casting, that’s for sure (Picture: James Devaney/GC Images)
Mitch said: ‘I told my friend that Eddie was playing me and he said – excuse my French – “Eddie f****** Marsan! He’s not very good-looking.” I said, “I know – I wanted George Clooney!”.’
This comes after Mitch defended the casting of BBC Industry star Marisa Abela as the late singer after fans suggested the pair look nothing alike.
‘Marisa’s a great choice for the role, even if she doesn’t look exactly like Amy,’ he told TMZ, before he suggested perhaps in Hollywood ‘too much emphasis is placed on looks’ anyway.
But in his most recent interview, Mitch admitted to initially worrying 26-year-old Marisa ‘can’t sing’, before his fears disappeared after some training made her ‘a lot better’.
Amy’s mum, Janis Winehouse, who will be portrayed by EastEnders star Juliet Cowan, is not so excited for the film’s release, as she doesn’t like its portrayal of her as a ‘doormat’.
Marisa Abela is portraying Amy, while Eddie Marsan will be posing as Mitch (Picture: Neil Mockford/GC Images)
Amy’s mother Janis Winehouse isn’t best pleased about her portrayal in the film (Picture: Getty Images)
The film also brings back some bad memories for Janis, who admitted it was hard to relive her ex-husband’s affair, with who she is still co-trustee of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.
She said: ‘I was horrified. I’ve been made to look like a doormat. I’m shown as a feeble, tired woman, slouching on the couch. When Amy was growing up, I was a hard-working, outgoing single mother studying for two university degrees.’
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Skins star Jack O’Connell will play Winehouse’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, and Mrs Harris Goes to Paris actor Lesley Manville will play the star’s grandmother.
It is not clear when exactly the film will be out, but filming is in full swing and the latest predictions are for a late 2023 or 2024 release date.
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He wasn’t impressed with Eddie Marsan.
