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Actress Marisa Abela consulted a dietician to help her safely portray Amy Winehouse in the upcoming biopic about the singer’s life.

The 27-year-old actress from Brighton said feeling “frailer and smaller” helped when depicting the Valerie singer in the upcoming film Back To Black – named after the artist’s famous album and song.

“I had help to do it safely; I consulted a dietician and was being monitored,” Abela said in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK.

“Feeling frailer and smaller helped – I hadn’t understood, before, how much that affects your tempo.”

Amy Winehouse Back to Black trailer
Image:
Abela in the Back to Black trailer. Pic: StudiocanalUK

“During her Frank era [her debut album released in 2003], Amy is fast and loud and boisterous with her arms, her movements are big,” she said.

“Once I started to change, I realised that you can’t physically make those same movements.

“It’s uncomfortable to sit. You’re tired, you’re hungry, you’re more exposed.”

Winehouse, who suffered from bulimia and publicly battled a drug addiction, died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011 at her home in Camden, north London, aged 27.

During filming, Abela said she felt a connection to the Grammy-winning singer, both of them having grown up in Jewish households.

Amy Winehouse leads the celebrations on stage at the 46664 concert honouring Nelson Mandela's ninetieth birthday in Hyde Park, London. Pic: PA
Image:
Amy Winehouse performing in London. Pic: PA


“The more I got to know her, the more I felt a major connection to this spiky Jewish girl from London who had a lot to say and was really quite unafraid,” the actress, whose mother is Jewish, said.

“I remembered how I felt when I was young, seeing that woman who was proud and cool, wearing a big Star of David in between a cleavage and a nice bra.

“I understood what a Friday-night dinner would look like in her home, the humour in her family.”

“I loved how effervescent she was, how huge a soul, how she just permeated any room she was in.

“But also, her relationship to her art form, and wanting to be good. That was the most important thing.”

‘My job was to get into Amy’s shoes’

The biopic is directed by 50 Shades Of Grey filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson, whose husband, Aaron, has recently been reported to be the next James Bond.

It follows Winehouses’ journey to fame, with “addiction” and “the relentless paparazzi” the villains.

Marisa Abela. Pic: Harper's Bazaar UK/Jem Mitchell
Image:
Marisa Abela. Pic: Harper’s Bazaar UK/Jem Mitchell

“As an actor, I think you’re making a terrible mistake when you judge a character and a character’s decisions,” Abela said.

“Of course – these are not just characters, they are real people.

“My job was to get into Amy’s shoes and her soul, and understand why she did the things she did.

“The only villains in our story are addiction and the relentless paparazzi. I’m not telling people how to feel about it.”

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At the 2008 Grammys Winehouse won record of the year, song of the year and best female pop vocal performance all for Rehab, along with best new artist, and best pop vocal album for Back To Black.

Abela, who has starred in BBC Two series Industry and Sky One drama COBRA, is the cover star of the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar.

Back To Black will open in UK cinemas from 12 April.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. Alternatively, letters can be mailed to: Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS.

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Rapper Ghetts charged after man killed in hit-and-run

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Rapper Ghetts charged after man killed in hit-and-run

The rapper Ghetts has been charged after a man was killed in a hit-and-run in northeast London.

The musician, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He allegedly failed to stop after hitting a 20-year-old man in Ilford last Saturday, the Met Police said.

The 41-year-old appeared at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on Monday – the same day the man died in hospital.

The indictment is expected to change from causing serious injury to causing death by dangerous driving at the next hearing.

Ghetts was remanded into custody and is due to appear at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on 27 October.

The police are appealing for witnesses to the crash to come forward.

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Ghetts is a grime rapper who played at Glastonbury last year and has collaborated with Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Skepta.

He also had a role in the Netflix drama Supacell.

Last year, he received the Mobo Pioneer Award for his significant contribution to British black culture.

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‘People want you to stay in your lane’: Reese Witherspoon on her ‘deeply personal’ decision to write a novel

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'People want you to stay in your lane': Reese Witherspoon on her 'deeply personal' decision to write a novel

It is “pretty surreal”, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon admits, finding herself at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.

When I meet the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling author Harlan Coben, overnight the pair have learned that their thriller is now at number one.

He jokes: “I was texting her last night and saying you’ll now have to call yourself number one bestselling novelist, forget about Oscar winner!”

Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye
Image:
Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye

As one of the most successful authors in the world, Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground.

Not content with running a hugely successful production company responsible for a string of hits, as well as one of the most successful book clubs in the world, she explains she felt compelled to give writing a try.

“People want you to stay in your lane… as a creative person I think it’s impossible to just choose one kind of life.

“Creativity is infinite and who I was as a creative person when I was 20 is very different from the person I am now at 49.”

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Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller about a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy, is the result of Witherspoon daring to put her head above the parapet.

Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try
Image:
Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try

Coben admits he was “a little wary” at first.

“I don’t co-write novels but when she made the pitch and started talking about it, I was like ‘dang that’s good, we can do something with that’.”

While countless celebrities work with ghostwriters, Coben says: “I said to her from day one ‘it’s only going to be you and me in here… no third person in here, I don’t do that’. So every word you [read] comes from Reese and me.”

Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground
Image:
Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground

Witherspoon explains: “He was like ‘if we’re going to do this, it’s going to have to be at a really high level because people going to expect a lot, so our bar was really high.”

“I said to her, in the beginning, novels are like a sausage,” Coben laughs. “You might like the final taste, but you don’t want to see how it was made and Reese got to see the full sausage getting made here.”

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When it came to writing, Coben says they “fell into a rhythm right away”, working together in three-hour stints, “back and forth with a yellow legal pad – what about this? What about that?”

Coben says they 'fell into a rhythm right away'
Image:
Coben says they ‘fell into a rhythm right away’

Witherspoon says it “feels really deeply personal” to have their work now in print.

“Usually, as an actor, I walk into other people’s worlds and it’s already set up… but this was creating the whole world with Harlan and just from beginning to end feels very personal.”

While the story seems an obvious fit for being adapted to the screen, perhaps with a certain blonde actress in the leading role, Coben says that was never their intention.

“The biggest, biggest mistake novelists make when you write a book is to say ‘this would make a really great movie’. A book is a book, a movie is a movie, and we both focused on wanting this to be just a great reading experience.”

Given that their collaboration is already selling in big numbers, will the pair team up again to write a second?

Witherspoon says: “Let’s just see what people think of this one first.”

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Kim Kardashian diagnosed with brain aneurysm

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Kim Kardashian diagnosed with brain aneurysm

Kim Kardashian has revealed that she has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.

  • Footage from the latest season of The Kardashians shows the reality TV star going for an imaging scan.

The 45-year-old appears to suggest her small aneurysm may have stemmed from stress.

Brain aneurysms are relatively common, with data suggesting they affect about one in every 50 people.

In many cases, patients may be unaware that they have one – as they tend to cause few symptoms when unruptured.

Brain aneurysms are common but often go undiagnosed. iStock file pic
Image:
Brain aneurysms are common but often go undiagnosed. iStock file pic

Should an unruptured aneurysm grow to a larger size, it can cause headaches, balance problems and speech issues.

Those that burst are extremely dangerous and can prove fatal in some circumstances.

While aneurysms can emerge throughout the body, they are most typically found in the aorta, which carries blood out of the heart.

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Research suggests brain aneurysms are most common in adults between the ages of 30 and 60 – with women disproportionately affected.

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Associate professor of neurology Dr Laura Stein told Sky’s US partner NBC News: ” The most well-described risk factors include a predisposition [family history of aneurysm], high blood pressure, cigarette smoking and inflammation.”

She went on to explain that most fatal ruptured aneurysms are in the brain, killing about one in three patients.

“When it’s a blood vessel that’s in the head and it bleeds, there’s a much higher risk of having a very bad problem just because the brain is enclosed in a fixed space,” Dr Stein added.

Low-risk aneurysms are monitored by doctors for growth or abnormalities, and there are a series of potential treatment options for those considered dangerous.

Elsewhere in The Kardashians clip, Kim admitted that her ex-husband Kanye West will be in her life “no matter what” because of the four kids they share together.

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