Jack O'Connell on the Real 'Villain' in Amy Winehouse's Life

Back to Black star Jack O'Connell says Amy Winehouse's ex-husband Blake Fielder is not the villain he's made out to be, blaming the media for the late singer-songwriter's tragic downfall.

The British actor portrays Fielder—formerly known as Blake Fielder-Civil—in the biopic, which hit U.S. theaters on May 17. The film is named after Winehouse's 2006 album, which was inspired by her tumultuous on-again-off-again relationship with the former production assistant.

Blamed for getting the Grammy winner hooked on heroin, Fielder was painted as a villain by the British tabloids and Winehouse's family as she publicly unraveled. However, O'Connell and director Sam Taylor-Johnson wanted to show a different side to the story in Back to Black.

"I think it's a very easy narrative to spin," the 33-year-old told Newsweek. "Just to point to one baddie and boo him and just f****** tear him apart publicly.

"It felt like a good opportunity to discredit that portrayal, to question and interrogate it."

'Any Time He Spoke of Amy, His His Face Lit Up'

Winehouse first met Fielder at a pub in London in 2005. That meeting is recreated in Back to Black, with the pair laughing, playing pool, and bonding over their shared love of 1960s tunes.

Fielder-Civil had a girlfriend at the time, but it wasn't long before he and Winehouse (played by Marisa Abela) became a couple. However, their relationship was volatile.

Winehouse suffered from bipolar disorder and bulimia, as well as battling substance abuse issues throughout her adult life, while Fielder found her fame hard to handle and longed for normality.

Fans also held the now-42-year-old responsible for the star's spiraling addiction—as did her father, Mitch Winehouse, portrayed by British actor Eddie Marsan in Back to Black. Fielder also faced allegations that he was only interested in Winehouse for her money.

O'Connell didn't know what to make of Fielder before meeting him in person.

"I'd only really had what's out there to go off, you know, and it wasn't a fair [depiction]," the Godless star said. "I prepared to have my view altered, but I didn't expect to get on as well as we did. I felt like we had a lot in common."

Fielder was arrested in 2008 for attempting to bribe a man he assaulted into dropping charges. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Like Fielder, O'Connell previously had trouble with the law. Born into a working-class family in Derby in the U.K., his father passed away when the Critics Choice Award nominee was just 18 years old. He struggled to cope with his father's death, and as a young man was in and out of court for violence and alcohol-related offences.

While still at school, a teacher had encouraged O'Connell to try out for a television workshop. He was discovered by English director Shane Meadows, who cast him in the cult classic This Is England. The 2006 drama was a critical darling and launched O'Connell's career, although there was still a few years of couch-surfing and scraping by before he began getting offers from Hollywood.

O'Connell and Fielder just "hung out initially," while the actor tried to convince him that Black to Black wasn't a slam piece.

"I wanted for him to feel that I was approaching this in a non-judgmental way," O'Connell said. "It was important to me, and he honestly spoke so earnestly and he was so genuine.

"Like, any time he spoke of Amy, his face lit up. He was talking about someone who he treasured and whose memory was very dear."

'Look at What They Were Subjected To'

Winehouse and Fielder eloped to Miami Beach, Florida, in 2007, surprising their families. The couple were hounded by the paparazzi throughout their relationship. Headlines included "Amy on Crack" and "Amy's 5:00 am Cry for Help," accompanied by a photo of the star walking the streets in just her bra and jean shorts.

Her phone was reportedly hacked by the British press, along with Fielder's, her brother Alex's and her parents' phones, while photographers would wait outside of rehab clinics to snap photos of Winehouse leaving.

According to O'Connell, Fielder blames the British tabloids for Winehouse's mental and physical decline, describing celebrity coverage in the early 2000s as "witch-hunt culture."

"Look at what they were subjected to," he said. "If anyone here is the villain, it's the people pointing the cameras at them and constantly harassing them, encouraging their downfall for the want of newspaper sales."

O'Connell believes the treatment of celebrities has improved since the height of Winehouse's fame. While social media has made 24/7 trolling a possibility, the Unbroken actor thinks people are more likely to call out the press for tormenting public figures.

"I think [Fielder's] experience is a marker between the perspective now and then," O'Connell explained. "I don't think we tolerate that type of media so much anymore. With the internet you have the option to just not log on."

"They probably couldn't go to a f****** shop without being plastered on the front page [of a newspaper]," he added. "There's no defense when you've got gangs of crusty middle-aged men armed with cameras outside your front gate."

'Amy Didn't Do Anything Amy Didn't Want To Do'

Fielder filed for divorce from Winehouse from prison in 2008, citing adultery, which the musician confessed to. The divorce was finalized in 2009, but they rekindled their romance one more time before her passing in 2011.

Winehouse continued to struggle with substance abuse following the split, leading to the cancellation of her 2011 European tour. She was found dead in her apartment a few weeks later, with her death attributed to alcohol poisoning. She was just 27 years old.

Now sober and a father of two with his ex-partner Sarah Aspin, Fielder told Piers Morgan in 2018 that he would "always carry a burden of guilt" for Winehouse's death, but that "Amy didn't do anything Amy didn't want to do."

"I feel I am the only person that's ever taken responsibility and has done since Amy was alive," he said, adding: "[but] I've needed to stop carrying that cross on my own."

When the first trailer for Back to Black dropped in January, social media users praised the "perfect casting" of O'Connell. Considering Fielder's reputation, some actors may take that as an insult, but O'Connell takes it as a "compliment."

"I'm an optimist," he said.

After portraying the highs and lows of the relationship that inspired the album Back to Black, does O'Connell have a different perspective on Winehouse's music than before?

"I think so," he said. "But I think that can apply to any good music, great writing. It's timeless.

"I think her music will just get better and better [as time goes on], that is the measure of her type of genius."