Amy Winehouse biopic is in the works and the search is officially on to find actress to play her-Naomi Gordon-Entertainment – Metro

Amy Winehouse will be the subject of a new biopic (Picture: Rex; BBC)

Amy Winehouse will be the the subject of a new biopic, which has the approval of the late singer’s parents.

British casting director Nina Gold is currently searching for an actress to star as the legendary musician, with the casting process being overseen by Janis and Mitch Winehouse who are heavily involved in the project.

They have also given the filmmakers permission to use Amy’s music in the production.

A source told the Daily Mail newspaper: ‘Nina’s been searching in theatre schools and drama groups, looking for someone around 20 years old who will be made into a star.’

The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter ascended to superstardom with hits such as Rehab and Back to Black, with the 2006 album becoming one of the best-selling albums in UK history. Amy’s addiction issues were also highly-publicised and she tragically died in 2011 aged just 27 from alcohol poisoning.

Mitch and Janis were said to be upset with Asif Kapadia’s 2015 documentary Amy, and last year they released their own BBC2 documentary Reclaiming Amy, which marked the 10th anniversary of her death.

The search is on to find the perfect person to portray Amy Winehouse (Picture: Getty Images)

Amy’s life and legacy was depicted through the lens of her family and closet friends, including her mum Janis who hadn’t spoken in depth publicly about her daughter’s death.

Meanwhile, casting director Nina is known for discovering young and exciting talent, having found Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner for Game of Thrones and cast Daisy Ridley in the Star Wars franchise.

Nina – who also cast Colin Firth to play King George VI in the The King’s Speech for which he won an Oscar – previously spoke about the challenges that come with finding the right actor to portray a real-life public figure.

More: Amy Winehouse

‘You do need to make a decent stab at making them look a bit similar to the real person. It can be quite a lot to do with capturing the essence rather than a lookalike approach,’ she explained.

‘Colin Firth looks nothing like the real Bertie and is much taller and was older than he was supposed to be. But he was so brilliant that one doesn’t even think about that, and he certainly made the role his own.’

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