Marisa Abela feels lucky she no longer feels she has "to always say yes" to new roles

She told Deadline: "For me, that has just changed. It doesn't mean I can do whatever I want, but I'm right at the beginning of that new space where I don't have to always say 'yes'. This is about having agency."

'Back to Black' also gave Marisa a desire to do more work behind the camera because she found it "hard" having spent so long filming and then having no impact as to what made the final cut.

She said: "You put so much into it physically and emotionally, and then you leave and a year later it's different - things exist, and things don't exist.

"That was hard. If I did a job like that again, it would be good to have a way of being in the room more."

The actress faced a lot of scrutiny about her role in the biopic but once the film's trailer was released, she "switched everything off" and paid no attention to the comments.

She said: "I firmly believe that the enemy of actors is self-consciousness. As soon as you start being vain, self-conscious or aware of yourself in the moment then you cannot be present.

"So much of being exposed in the way that we are can be linked with shame and I don't think that's a useful emotion in any way, so I'm proud I worked as hard as I did."