How Marisa Abela revived her career after THAT Amy Winehouse biopic: Industry actress came back from cancer and faced lousy reviews before beating huge names to storm the BAFTAs

Daily Mail​

12-05-2025

BBC 's sex-fuelled, high-octane banking drama Industry set the scene for her swift rise to fame.
So, when Brighton-born Marisa Abela scooped the Leading Actress accolade at yesterday's 2025 BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Yasmin Hanani in the show, it proved to be a full-circle moment.
However, there was a time not so long ago that the 28-year-old's status as one of the UK's standout young actresses was thrust into uncertainty following the release of Sam Taylor-Johnson's Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black.
Playing the beloved singer, who died aged 27 in 2011 from alcohol poisoning, is a challenging role, and from the perspective of countless critics and viewers, Marisa struggled.
For instance, The Standard's Hamish Macbain described the film as a 'poor, poor piece of filmmaking', writing, 'This is a film that does not paint a nice or fair picture of her as a human, nor get across how special an artist she was.
'The final scene, in particular, with its completely and utterly baseless, sensationalist implications, made me physically gasp in horror.'
Even some of the more favourable reviews attacked aspects of Marisa's performance, such as The Hollywood Reporter, who gave an overall positive assessment but felt Marisa's singing voice was 'auto-tuned up the wazoo'.
Now, in a turn of events, Marisa has managed to do what so many struggle to - revive her career, and yesterday's win solidified her return to the path of becoming one of the nation's most prized actresses.
Marisa's journey into acting commenced as a pupil at the exclusive girls-only independent Roedean in Brighton, East Sussex, where she took to the stage to feed her love of drama.
Back then, staff recognised her 'star quality' and said she would light up the stage with all her performances.
Talking exclusively to MailOnline, Sophia Bartlette, the school's assistant director of music, vividly remembered Marisa's stunning performance in Tristan and Yseult, the 12th-century medieval chivalric romance.
'She was such a lively performer and a commanding stage presence – she really brought the stage to life,' she said.
A former schoolmate said: 'She was fantastic in all the school productions. She had real star quality and still does.'
However, Marisa, who attended the £20,000-a-year school from the age of 11 until she was 17, almost chose a very different career before plumping for drama.
The pupil harboured a burning ambition to become a human rights lawyer and planned on going to university to study law.
Deputy head at Roedean, Ross Barrand recalled: 'Marisa always loved performing, but I remember she also loved history and wanted to study law after school.
'She changed direction quite late to pursue acting, and has clearly made a massive success of it.'
Marisa admitted that while on a visit to University College London (UCL), she ended up being lured in by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), which was just down the road.
Explaining how her mother convinced her to finally take the plunge, she said in a 2021 interview with Gold Derby: 'Every time I was in a school play or a show, (my parents) were both over the moon and like, 'She's going to do it!'
'They were sort of nudging each other. So, I think my way of rebelling was just pretending I was going to be a lawyer.'
Her big break came in 2020 when Marisa secured her role as Yasmin Hanani in Industry.
Arguably the show's main character, she filmed numerous raunchy and nude scenes for the BBC show.
Viewers of the first two seasons saw Yasmin in scenes including a lesbian romp, baring her breasts as she took selfies, and during a fully nude scene in the bath.
One clip from the first series of the show saw Yasmin stripping down to her underwear before kissing her boyfriend in bed.
It was an element she took in her stride, telling The Times, 'The nudity aspect is not something that I minded in season one or two.
'It was like, 'If it's in my contract, I'll do it'. It was part of Yasmin and part of the fact that she was so comfortable with herself and she's very free. And it didn't have a lot of emotional weight for me.'
But ahead of the third season's release, a source told the Mail: 'Marisa really wanted to tone down the nudity in the latest series.
'She has matured in recent years and wants to clean up her on-screen image before she breaks it in Hollywood.
'She is proud of all of her work on Industry, but Marisa was keen for the character to go in a different direction.'
Then came her role as Amy Winehouse in last year's Back to Black biopic, which attempted to propel her to the next level of stardom.
The film starred Skins actor Jack O'Connell (a recipient of the BAFTA Rising Star award) as Winehouse's one-time partner Blake Fielder-Civil, Eddie Marsan as her father Mitch, and Juliet Cowan as her mother Janis.
Marisa revealed the strict regime she followed to shrink to Amy's slender frame, telling Harper's Bazaar UK 'feeling frailer' helped her with characterisation.
'I had help to do it safely; I consulted a dietician and was being monitored. Feeling frailer and smaller helped – I hadn't understood, before, how much that affects your tempo', the actress explained.
'During her Frank era [in 2005 when her first album was released], Amy is fast and loud and boisterous with her arms, her movements are big.'
'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.'
Despite her efforts, viewers accused the project of 'exploiting the singer's legacy' and 'capitalising from her trauma', with some calling for people to 'just let her rest'.
The Sam Taylor-Johnson-directed biopic also found negative feedback from multiple critics.
Awarding the film just one star, the Evening Standard described Back to Black as a 'poor, poor piece of filmmaking'; the Mail's Peter Hoskin gave the same rating, criticising the filmmakers for rushing through key details of the singer's life.
The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, however, praised Marisa's turn as Amy Winehouse, calling it a 'thoroughly engaging and sweet-natured performance'.
Marisa said she hoped Winehouse would have been 'proud' of the impact that she had made on the world.
'She was smart and funny and bold and brave but also incredibly vulnerable and emotional. That's what I wanted to bring... to remind people of the vulnerability of Amy, of the girl behind the music,' she said at the premiere.
'I hope she would be proud of herself and everything she achieved in her life. I think it's time we remember what an incredible legacy she left us with as an artist.'
While grappling with Back to Black's mixed reception, Marisa opened up on her cancer diagnosis and how seeing her scarred body for the first time after surgery left her fearing her career was over.
The star was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in November 2020 shortly after filming the first series of Industry.
Recalling the moment she first saw the scar across her throat in a candid interview last year, she said: 'When I first went to the bathroom after surgery and I saw myself in the mirror, I thought, 'That's it, my career is over'.
'[My neck] was stapled, bloody. It wasn't pretty at all, and the scar is big,' she told The Times.
The experience no doubt made her win yesterday at the 2025 BAFTA TV Awards all the more emotional.
Marisa won over the BAFTA jury, and many viewers, with her stellar performance as Yasmin in the show.
The actress fought back tears as she claimed Leading Actress before teasing the upcoming fourth season of the show.
Thanking those closest to her, Marisa elegantly wiped away a tear from her face as she graced the stage in a black structured corset dress.
After walking away with her prized trophy, the brunette beauty later confirmed a fourth season of the series and that they have already started filming.
She said: 'Season three felt like a massive step up for the show, and I feel like that is continuing and continuing.
'So I am excited to see the response season four gets, which we are filming right now.'