Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil has been pictured for the first time since filming began on her biopic, Back To Black.
The former video production assistant, 40, puffed away on a cigarette while sporting a navy padded jacket and jeans during an outing in Leeds last Monday.
He accessorised with a black Los Angeles Hundreds baseball cap and donned white trainers, before lifting a pair of black headphones over his ears.
Blake, who was married to the late Amy between 2007 and 2009, lifted up his hood and smiled as he walked off into the city.
In recent times, he has since gone on to pursue a career in acting, though he is yet to have any TV or film credits as an actor on IMDB.
Emerging: Amy Winehouse ‘s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil has been pictured for the first time since filming began on her biopic, Back To Black
He’s being played by Jack O’Connell in the upcoming film, while Industry’s Marisa Abela is playing the Tears Dry On Their Own songstress.
The actors appeared to be in a heated discussion as they filmed an argument scene for Back To Black on Tuesday in London.
Amy’s father Mitch Winehouse recently defended the controversial casting choice for the new biopic – after many claimed Marisa and Amy don’t look enough alike.
He disagrees with the backlash as he shared this week that Marisa is a ‘great choice’, admitting it doesn’t matter if they ‘don’t look exactly alike’.
Chatting with TMZ on the new release about his daughter, Mitch said: ‘Marisa is Marisa and Amy is Amy … so it’s no big deal if they aren’t mirror images.
‘Marisa is a great choice for the role.’
He continued that Eddie Marsan, who is playing Mitch, doesn’t look exactly like him either, noting: ‘there’s too much emphasis on looks.
‘Because there’s plenty of Hollywood examples of actors not looking like their real-life character.’
Out and about: The former video production assistant, 40, puffed away on a cigarette while sporting a navy padded jacket and jeans during an outing in Leeds last Monday
Casual: He accessorised with a black Los Angeles Hundreds baseball cap and donned white trainers
Strolling: Blake lifted up his hood and smiled as he walked off into the city
Mitch’s defense comes as the casting choice of Marisa, who is known for playing Yasmin in BBC One TV series Industry, left many fans divided as they took to social media.
One fan tweeted: ‘Marisa Abela is a good actress but anyone who thinks she looks anything like Amy Winehouse needs to make an appointment with their eye doctor’.
‘Marisa Abela looks nothing like Amy Winehouse,’ echoed another.
As a third added: ‘It’s not a good choice. #amywinehouse had a natural softness and vulnerability. but Marisa Abela, as Amy, just looks hard and mean. Sorry’.
Hungry? He carried a pair of food items from budget supermarket Aldi
Depiction: He’s being played by Jack O’Connell in the upcoming film, while Industry’s Marisa Abela is playing the Tears Dry On Their Own songstress
Tunes: Blake lifted a pair of black headphones over his ears. He appeared to be in high spirits as he smiled
Mitch and wife Janis are parents to Amy, who passed away from alcohol poisoning in 2011, and son Alex, 44.
But while the casting has her parents’ seal of approval, Amy’s friends are not so convinced either.
One told The Mail on Sunday that they are unhappy at the casting of Marisa because, despite the near perfect wig she wears and the identical tattoos, they do not think she looks like the Rehab singer.
They also contrast Roedean-educated Ms Abela’s social background with London-born Ms Winehouse, who was known for her streetwise persona.
Throwback: Blake and Amy are pictured at the Mojo Awards in 2007
‘Nobody consulted us about Amy,’ said the friend.
‘How can it be authentic and accurate if they don’t know the real Amy or the truth about what happened in her final years? We are against this and we are upset. Amy was absolutely striking.’
Friends of Amy are also furious with the makers of the biopic for failing to consult them about the star’s life, claiming that executives working on Back To Black have not been in touch to ask about their memories of the late singer, raising fears that the film will be inaccurate.
Despite it being almost 12 years since Ms Winehouse was found unresponsive at her townhouse in Camden, North London, in July 2011, her grief-stricken friends still believe it is early for such a film to be made.
Sources on the set of Back To Black – directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and named after Ms Winehouse’s hit 2006 album – say that filming is only due to last eight weeks, which industry insiders believe is not very long for such a production.
One insider said: ‘It all feels very fast, almost a bit smash and grab.’
Many have also doubted the film being made as a whole, accusing the project of ‘exploiting the singer’s legacy’ and ‘capitalising off her trauma’, with some calling for people to ‘just let her rest’.
Tough: Marisa, who is known for her role in BBC show Industry, has received backlash over the casting as fans claim she isn’t the right fit (pictured in December 2022)
