Jack O'Connell insists Back to Black is 'a celebration' of Amy Winehouse's life

Jack O'Connell has defended his upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black.

The Unbroken actor, who plays Winehouse's ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil in the biopic, has addressed the criticism that Sam Taylor-Johnson's film is coming out too soon after the singer's death in 2011.

"What is the acceptable timescale of that?" he responded in an interview with The Sunday Times. "Put it like this: if we were trying to portray her in any form of negative light, then that might be a valid point and I can understand one or two people pre-empting that. But if you talk to Sam we're not even calling this a biopic, it's a celebration. I can get with that."

O'Connell revealed that he spent an afternoon with Fielder-Civil, who was married to Winehouse between 2007 and 2009, to prepare for the role, even though he wasn't "overly keen" about dredging up the past.

"He was quite open. He spoke so highly of Amy. There was something so genuine in how he spoke, it was unquestionable to me that he loved her. That informed how I wanted to portray him," he gushed. "He wasn't overly keen, 'cos obviously it's going into a phase of his life that is very personal and he harbours a mixed bag of emotions."

The former Skins star also noted that the Rehab singer's father Mitch Winehouse visited the set occasionally.

"I think he wanted to deck me when he saw me dressed as Blake," he quipped.

Back to Black, starring Marisa Abela as Winehouse, will be released in U.K. cinemas on Friday.