At a time when Hollywood nepo baby is the latest buzzword, another one may have been found in actress Marisa Abela, star of the upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic.
The 26-year-old British actress was spotted out on the streets of London on Monday dressed as Winehouse while shooting scenes for Back to Black. The biopic caused a stir online when fans seemed unimpressed with the behind the scenes shots.
Abela has been cast in the lead role after starring in HBO series Industry and a handful of British movies. She's not known widely to audiences yet, but with starring roles in Back to Black and Greta Gerwig's Barbie under her belt, her star is set to rise.
The term "nepo baby" is used as an insult by many online, when they deem someone to have found success only as a result of receiving help from famous or successful family members. A recent Vulture article brought the term into the mainstream when they highlighted rising stars like Lily-Rose Depp, Zoë Kravitz, Ben Platt and Jack Quaid for allegedly benefiting from nepotism within the entertainment industry.
Who Are Marisa Abela's Parents?
Abela was born in 1996, to parents Caroline Gruber and Angelo Abela.
Caroline Gruber is a British actress who appeared in a number of TV shows in the United Kingdom across the '80s and '90s. Her credits include Grange Hill, The Bill, Bottom, and ill-fated Adolf Hitler comedy Heil Honey I'm Home! After a career break, she returned to the screen in 2017 alongside Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams in Disobedience.
In 2020, she returned to the West End stage in the play Leopoldstadt. Daughter Marisa shared a congratulatory post for her mom on Instagram when the show reopened after a COVID-related delay. She called her mom her "rock," her "inspiration" and her "biggest fan."
Angelo Abela is a Daytime Emmy Award winning director who's also got decades of experience within the entertainment industry.
After a brief career as an actor, he switched to producing and directing, with his credits including children's TV shows like My Parents Are Aliens, Sir Gadabout and The Mysti Show. In recent years he's directed multiple episodes of the British soap opera Hollyoaks and Netflix series Zero Chill.
He produced and directed episodes of the children's Netflix show Free Reign, which won him the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's or Family Viewing Series.
During an interview with W Magazine, Marisa discussed how her parents had encouraged her creative pursuits.
"I think being a lawyer would be me rebelling. I told them growing up that, that's what I wanted to do because every time I was in a school play or a show, they were both like 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," Abela said.
Back to Black is slated for a 2024 release date, and early images of Abela on the set of the movie revealed British actor Eddie Marsan playing Mitch Winehouse, Amy's father.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
