An Irish man who was responsible for editing the critically-acclaimed Elvis biopic has been nominated for an Oscar, in what has been a record year for Irish film.
John Redmond, who grew up in Dublin, has been given the nod for an Academy Award along with his co-editor Matt Villa, for brining the story of the King of Rock and Roll to the silver screen.
Speaking on The Ray D'Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1, John explained that he landed the role through a relationship he built up with Elvis Director Baz Luhrmann, over 23 years ago.
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"One of the producers tracked me down at the time, I was working in Australia on something else.
"I didn't really have a clue who Baz Luhrmann was back then and the idea of working on a musical wasn't that exciting to me at the time," he said.
John admitted that he was quite "naive" but after a little coaxing, he was convinced to take part in what he defined as "an extraordinary project."
He highlighted how Baz's style is quite frenetic and that the legendary Australian director likes to shoot a lot of film, which makes for a considerable amount of editing to get through.
John, who has now worked on five projects with Baz, told listeners that he first began working on Elvis five years ago, way before there even was a script on the table.
He revealed that he had clipped the final scene of the movie, with Elvis singing Unchained Melody, which he found on YouTube, way before the cast and crew were put together.
"With a character like Elvis Presley, there is a lot of stuff out there, his movies, his concerts. There is a lot of visual material to work with. We were kind of scratching the itch, seeing what the film would look or feel like," John said.
The challenge involved appealing to a younger generation who don't know anything about the 60s superstar, as well as keeping happy an existing fanbase for The King.
John, who was a vital part of the $287 million grossing box-office biopic, joins 13 other Irish-related Oscar nominations that will go down to the wire at the 95th Academy Awards, on March 13.
"It's great for the Irish and quite surreal," John added.
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