Stars of the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black lined out in London for its world premiere on Monday night.
The film, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, tells the life story of the late singer, portrayed by Marisa Abela, who died in 2011 aged 27 from alcohol poisoning.
British actress Marisa Abela plays the legendary British singer, while Skins and This is England actor Jack O'Connell plays Winehouse's former husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
Jack O'Connell told the PA news agency that Abela worked very hard in her portrayal of Winehouse because "no one wanted to do a basic imitation".
"I just thought Marisa knuckled down so hard because these are obviously huge boots to step into and no one wanted to do a basic imitation," O'Connell said.
"So she worked hard, I worked hard, and made sure that when we were on set, we could just be free, spontaneous, instinctive, and it was just a great environment to work in," he said.
Sam Taylor-Johnson said that she "first and foremost" immersed herself in the music from Winehouse, describing the film as a "celebration of the music".
"We lived in the same neighbourhood so I had an awareness of her around, seen her at Ronnie Scott's way back in the early days when she was part of the up and coming voices of jazz," the Fifty Shades Of Grey filmmaker told PA.
"The music was everything when I was working on the script because we went through all her journals and lyrics and everything to do with music as our path in, and that felt like the best way to celebrate her, to bring back her voice, almost gift it back to her for us all to hear within the narrative of her life rather than the sort of overview."
Actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is tipped to be the next James Bond, accompanied his director wife Sam.
Eddie Marsan, who plays Winehouse's father Mitch in the film, was also pictured on the red carpet.
The film has the backing of Winehouse's estate, as well as Universal Music Group and Sony Music Publishing, meaning the biopic will feature many of Winehouse's hit songs.
TV stalwart Juliet Cowan plays the singer's mother Janis Winehouse, while Leslie Manville plays Winehouse's jazz-singer grandmother Cynthia, who encouraged Amy to attend stage school in real life.
Also in attendance was musician Nick Cave, who along with Warren Ellis, created the score for the forthcoming biopic.
Back to Black will be in cinemas from Friday 12 April.
Source: Press Association / Getty Images
