Amy Winehouse’s former band leader has defended an upcoming biopic on the singer.
Pictures of actor Marisa Abela playing Winehouse during difficult periods in her life have made fans worry the film might exploit her memory, but Dale Davis, who played with Winehouse throughout her career, and is helping the film with accuracy and music, says from what he’s seen the film will be a tribute.
"I want the best for Amy and her legacy" he told us, adding that it is “surreal" seeing recreations of their old gigs. A younger actor is playing him in the film. “I’m probably a bit greyer now” he joked. He added: “There was always going to be a film coming out about Amy... you’re always going to get criticism of whatever you do”.
Davis said Abela didn't have an “easy job" singing and talking like Winehouse but is getting “better and better all the time”. “She seems like a great actress, watching her do take after take after take” he said, of his time on set.
The Amy Winehouse Band, led by Davis and featuring most of the original band, are playing a gig at the QT in Covent Garden’s Middle Eight hotel tomorrow night with singer Bronte Shande Kirkby and the classic songs. “Bronte does such a good job that sometimes it takes me back to the early days with Amy” Davis said. Might Abela turn up?
Ugly and silly? Pull the other one, Hugh
“I’m too old and ugly to be a leading man any more,” claims heartthrob Hugh Grant. Grant, 62, who found fame playing floppy-haired leads in rom-coms, says he’s much happier playing “silly characters” these days. “To be honest, it’s a fantastic relief. It never suited me. I never thought I was very good at that” he tells Total Film. Grant has been in Paddington 2, and he’s now in Honor Among Thieves, based on the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. You’ll always be our leading man, Hugh.
MPs brace for Cleo’s book
So excited that #Whips proofs are about to drop. Hippo gets an extra early version because he needs to learn how to read first. pic.twitter.com/6Qaln6tvSa
— Cleo Watson (@TheGazelle69) March 4, 2023
MPs have had their WhatsApps leaked, and there could be more to come. Ex-Downing Street aide Cleo Watson says proofs of her X-rated political novel Whips “are about to drop”, posting this picture with her dog Hippo. Watson worked for Boris Johnson during the pandemic, calling herself the PM’s “nanny”. She says her book is “strictly fictional”, but it’s expected to embarrass some former colleagues.
A knighthood for Stanley: what’s in Truss’s honours list?
IT SEEMS Boris Johnson’s full honours list will be made public soon, with news that he nominated his father Stanley for a gong. After that, we’ll have Liz Truss’s honours list to look forward to. But will it be a short one? It turns out Truss wasn’t a big fan of the House of Lords and, in her short time at No 10, was considering getting rid of hereditary peers. With only six weeks in office, the plans came to nothing.
Feel the spirit of Vivienne
FASHION celebrated Vivienne Westwood at Paris Fashion Week at the weekend, with actor Julia Fox and model Georgia May Jagger attending a show by the late designer’s brand at the Hotel de la Marine. Across town, Vogue’s Dame Anna Wintour took off her shades at the Alexander McQueen show, next to thesp Elle Fanning. Elsewhere, model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and designer Camila Alves McConaughey were at a Hermès show, and snapper Nikolai von Bismarck was at a launch for brand Isamaya Lips.
