Mitch Winehouse spoke out after filming of Back to Black, Sam Taylor-Johnson’s biopic about his late daughter Amy Winehouse starring Marisa Abela, started filming this month (Picture: Getty)

Mitch Winehouse has jumped to the defence of Back to Black, the Sam Taylor-Johnson-directed Amy Winehouse biopic that’s currently filming in London.

Starring Marisa Abela as the late singer, fans have heavily criticised the movie in recent days, saying Marisa looks nothing like Amy.

However, Mitch has now addressed the backlash, calling 26-year-old Marisa a ‘great choice’ for the role of his late daughter.

‘Marisa’s a great choice for the role, even if she doesn’t look exactly like Amy,’ he noted.

Pointing to actor Eddie Marsan – who is playing him in the biopic – Mitch said Eddie ‘doesn’t look anything like me either’.

Speaking to TMZ, he insisted there are ‘plenty of Hollywood examples of actors not looking like their real-life characters’ and added ‘too much emphasis is placed on looks’.

Mitch, pictured with his daughter in 2007, threw his support behind the project (Picture: PA)

Not everyone is happy about Marisa’s casting as Amy (Picture: Mike Marsland/Getty Images for Omega)

However, although Mitch might have given Amy’s casting his nod of approval, the internet’s not convinced.

Taking to Twitter to express their dismay over Marisa playing the Rehab crooner, one social media user wrote: ‘They want us to believe she looks like Amy Winehouse so much and it’s not working.’

Another echoed: ‘sam taylor johnson looks more like amy winehouse than the lead actress does,’ while someone else said: ‘Kinda nervous for this one… she looks nothing like her. I pray it’s Amy’s original vocals…’

Other comments included: ‘Looks nothing like MY Amy. I hate these biopics that stars people who look nothing like the person’ and ‘on top of everything else, this actress looks NOTHING like amy winehouse?’

Amy – who is hailed by many as one of the greatest ever vocalists – died on July 23, 2011, from alcohol poisoning (Picture: AP)

‘Marisa’s a great choice for the role, even if she doesn’t look exactly like Amy,’ Mitch noted (Picture: Fred Duval/FilmMagic)

Amy – who is hailed by many as one of the greatest ever vocalists – died on July 23, 2011, from alcohol poisoning.

Marisa has been spotted donning the singer’s iconic beehive hair-do outside famous London haunts throughout January.

Created by StudioCanal, Focus Features and Monumental Pictures, the highly-anticipated feature film will document Amy’s ‘vibrant years living in London in the early aughts and her intense journey to fame’.

Cameras started rolling in London on January 16, and of the project, acclaimed director Sam said: ‘My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden. I got a job at the legendary Koko Club, and I can still breathe every market stall, vintage shop and street…

‘A few years later Amy wrote her searingly honest songs whilst living in Camden. Like with me, it became part of her DNA. I first saw her perform at a talent show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho and it was immediately obvious she wasn’t just talent… she was genius.’

Sam said: ‘My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden’ (Picture: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Baby2Baby)

Former Skins star Jack O’Connell will play the role of Blake Fielder-Civil, who married Amy in 2007 (Picture: PA)

‘I am fully aware of the responsibility,’ Sam assured. ‘With my writing collaborator – Matt Greenhalgh – I will create a movie that we will all love and cherish forever. Just like we do Amy.’

Giving their blessing, The Amy Winehouse Estate added its ‘thrilled’ to have the film in safe hands, celebrating Amy’s ‘extraordinary music legacy and showcasing her talent in the way that it deserves’.

Former Skins star Jack O’Connell will play the role of Blake Fielder-Civil, who married Amy in 2007 but divorced the hitmaker prior to her death after a turbulent relationship filled with alcohol and drug abuse. 

Meanwhile, Marisa, best known for playing Yasmin Kara-Hanani in the BBC’s graduate banker drama Industry, recently opened up about playing the jazz legend.

The actor was surprised that trying to lose weight to play the late music icon had a ‘really positive’ impact on her mental health.The up-and-comer admitted that growing up she didn’t have a good relationship with her body, and she was initially daunted by the task of losing weight to portray Amy in her later, heady years.

Chatting on the Before The Lights podcast to hosts George Ashwell, Dave Hastie, and Josh Betteridge, the personal trainers working with her on the role, the actor said: ‘I went to an all-girls school in Brighton and it was brutal… this really toxic environment, and it definitely seeped into how I felt about myself.

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‘I was anticipating [training for the role] being quite difficult in terms of maybe thinking, “This is how I should look when I’m at my skinniest”. 

‘But actually, it’s the opposite’, said the star. ‘I almost see my body as a true instrument that I’m training for a job.’

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The biopic started filming this month.