Mick Audsley has edited films for some of Britain's most audacious directors, including Stephen Frears, Terry Gilliam, Mike Newell and Neil Jordan.
Frears tops the the list numerically with eleven features, among which is the inimitable My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). He kicked off the new millennium with another Frears' hit, High Fidelity (2000), starring John Cusack.
Two directors to have twice profited from Audsley's deft touch are Mike Newell in Dance With a Stranger (1985) and Soursweet (1988), and Neil Jordan in We're No Angels (1989) and Interview With the Vampire (1994).
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) is decidedly different in its rhythms, its perspective on mankind, and its period - World War II. "Yes," says Audsley, "it's a very broad, layered picture, an emotional story with harrowing elements." But these disparate elements are what make the editorial challenge.
The editor chooses projects to work on which he'd enjoy seeing, and cites two pictures made in the U. S. as particularly exciting to tackle: Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys (1995) ("daunting but fun") and Grifters, The (1990), a modern film noir set near Los Angeles starring Anjelica Huston, Annette Benning and John Cusack, directed by Stephen Frears.
Mick Audsley received BAFTA's best editor award for Frears' The Snapper and a nomination for Dangerous Liaisons. Other Frears' films he edited are Hero (1975), Prick Up Your Ears (1987) and Sammy & Rosie Get Laid (1987).
He has an extensive academic background in film studies, having attended Hornsey College for three years, followed by three more in advanced study at the Royal College of Art. Although originally drawn to animation, he zeroed in on editing soon enough and began his career in the mid-1970s with small projects at the British Film Institute. Other credits include Philippe Rousselot's directorial debut film, Serpent's Kiss, The (1997). He met John Madden when he stepped in for an ill friend to complete the editing of Shakespeare in Love (1998).
