See the Amy Winehouse Biopic Back to Black Cast Side by Side with Real People

Amy Winehouse’s life and world-changing music are getting the big screen treatment Back to black.

Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and written by Matt Greenhalgh, the biopic — which opens in theaters on Friday, May 17 — is named after the hit album that made Winehouse a superstar before her death at age 27 in 2011.

It stars Marisa Abela as a singer in “an unabashed look at the woman behind the phenomenon and the relationship that inspired one of the most legendary albums of all time,” according to a synopsis from distributor Focus Features.

Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson share a red carpet outing at the Amy Winehouse biopic premiere

Who were the real-life characters in Winehouse’s adult life and who did the actors bring to the screen? Read on to see Back to black side by side with the people they portray.

Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse

(Left-right:) Marisa Abela in ‘Back to Black’; Amy Winehouse.

Dean Rogers/Focus Features; Getty

Back to black charts Winehouse’s meteoric rise from her early mature years in Southgate, London to international stardom. The late singer-songwriter is played by Abela, 27, a British actress known for her work in the TV series Industry and COBRA.

Abela took on the daunting task of recreating the singer’s iconic vocals herself, instead of playing her lips. “When you get into the character, you do what you need to do,” she told PEOPLE at the film’s London premiere on April 8, adding that she’s “really excited” for fans to hear her tribute to the singer.

“That’s my job as an actor, to inhabit her in every corner of her life and be able to tell a story in every moment of her life,” said Abela.

Jack O’Connell as Blake Fielder-Civil

(L-R:) Jack O’Connell in ‘Back to Black’; Blake Fielder-Civil.

Olli Upton/Focus features; Shutterstock

In the midst of Winehouse’s stratospheric rise, she became romantically involved with, and eventually married, Blake Fielder-Civil, now 42, from 2007 to 2009. Back to black focuses on the ups and downs of their relationship, which included alleged drug abuse and violence.

In the film, Fielder-Civila is portrayed by Jack O’Connell, an English actor known for his role in Angelina Jolie’s film Unbroken. “They both had a blast with the tabloids,” O’Connell, 33, said of the singer and her husband at the film’s New York premiere on May 15.

The couple “just spread their whole lives out there for everyone to consume,” the actor said, adding that he felt Fielder-Civil was “definitely very misunderstood… It was important to me to do justice to that.”

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Eddie Marsan as Mitch Winehouse

(Left-right:) Edi Maršan; Mitch Winehouse.

Getty (2)

An important figure in Winehouse’s life, both personally and professionally, was her father, Mitch Winehouse. The handyman and taxi driver turned manager of his daughter’s finances, the 73-year-old has since helped run Amy Winehouse’s estate, which has signed a Back to black.

His book from 2012. Amy, my daughter, who calls him the star’s “closest adviser, her inspiration and her best friend,” revealed many of the highs and lows of the years depicted in the film. Oscar-winning documentary from 2015 Amywhich covered the same period of the late musician’s life, did not meet with his approval, Guard reported at the time.

Veteran actor Eddie Marsan, who starred in British films such as Happy-Go-Lucky including TV series Ray Donovanbrings Winehouse’s father to life in the Taylor-Johnson film.

Never-before-seen footage of Amy Winehouse featured in new video for ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’ — watch

Juliet Cowan as Janis Collins-Winehouse

Juliet Cowan May 14.

Daniel Zuchnik/Variety via Getty

Winehouse’s mother, Janis Collins-Winehouse, is a former pharmacist who separated and divorced her husband in 2009. Taylor-Johnson, 57, told PEOPLE that she met with both parents “out of respect” for the family.

“I was making a film about their daughter and I thought it was important to hear them and hear their stories,” the director said. “Some of the things that Janice, her mom, said really helped me focus.”

The now 70-year-old matriarch Winehouse is played in the film by Northern Irish actress Juliet Cowan, known for her British TV series Force and Back to life.

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Lesley Manville as Cynthia Winehouse

Lesley Manville. Noam Galai/Getty

Among Winehouse’s many influences as a singer and style icon were Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Lauryn Hill. But the inspiration she often mentioned was her father’s mother, Cynthia Winehouse, a jazz singer herself who reportedly encouraged her granddaughter to make the beehive hairstyle part of her look. The singer went so far as to include her grandmother’s name among her numerous tattoos.

Grandma’s death in 2006 is one of the significant events depicted in Back to black, where she is brought to life by Oscar nominee Lesley Manville. The Mrs. Harris is going to Paris star recently played Princess Margaret Crown.

Kelly Clarkson recalls karaoke night with Amy Winehouse before ‘Back to Black’ success: ‘She had such a presence’

Sam Buchanan as Nick Shymansky

(Left-right:) Sam Buchanan; Nick Shymansky.

Jeff Spicer/Getty

Nick Shymansky was among the artist’s first music managers, and during their time together between 1999 and 2006, they released her hit debut album, Frank. In Taylor-Johnson’s film, he plays him Such brave girls star Sam Buchanan.

Other figures from the world of music, such as Winehouse’s American producer Mark Ronson, are only mentioned in Back to black. In the case of Bennett’s presentation of the Record of the Year Award at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008, real-life footage is mixed with a recreation of Amy’s stunned reaction as she watched the American ceremony from London.

Back to black it’s in theaters on May 17.

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