Robert Downey Jr. is treading in new waters lately, having spent the majority of his professional time in the last decade leading the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Iron Man. As such, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has proven to be a much-needed different hurdle for Downey Jr. to overcome.
Downey Jr. didn’t let the opportunity slip and delivered a career-best performance as Lewis Strauss. He has deservedly earned an Oscar nomination for his stint which has left many wondering why he didn’t collaborate with Nolan much earlier.
Turns out, the Chaplin star did make an approach years ago — only for Nolan to snub him.
Christopher Nolan Knew Robert Downey Jr. Wasn’t an Ideal Fit for His $2.4B Worth Franchise
It would be an understatement to say Robert Downey Jr.‘s casting as Iron Man in 2008 was a success. His charismatic portrayal of Tony Stark helped Marvel Studios start their decade-long dominance at the box office.
During his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Christopher Nolan revealed that Downey Jr. playing Iron Man is one of the most “consequential casting decisions” that’s ever been made in the history of the movie business.
Interestingly, long before Iron Man hit the theaters, Downey Jr. wanted to be part of Nolan’s take on comic book characters. The British filmmaker helmed The Dark Knight Trilogy, which grossed more than $2.4 billion at the global box office.
When Nolan was assembling his cast for Batman Begins (2005), the Tropic Thunder star met with him and expressed his desire to play Scarecrow. However, Nolan had different plans.
In a chat with The New York Times, Nolan talked about that meeting. Referring to his Oppenheimer star, he said:
“I 100 percent knew you weren’t the guy. In my head that was already cast. But I always wanted to meet you.”
Nolan added: “I was a huge admirer of yours and therefore selfishly just wanted to take the meeting. But I was also a little afraid of you, you know. I had heard all kinds of stories about how you were crazy. It was only a few years after the last of those stories that had come out about you.”
As we all know, the much-acclaimed filmmaker roped in Cillian Murphy to play the only villain to have appeared in all three of his Batman films.
Before Bagging Robert Downey Jr.’s Preferred Role, Cillian Murphy Auditioned for a Different Character
Murphy, meanwhile, first auditioned to play Bruce Wayne, but the titular role went to Christian Bale.
Speaking to Stephen Colbert, Nolan revealed that even though he didn’t think the Irish actor was more suited to playing Batman than Bale, he formed an immediate creative connection with him. Accordingly, he gave Murphy the part of the eccentric psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum.
The pair went on to work in five more movies, with Oppenheimer being the last and most fruitful of all. The epic biographical drama has grossed more than $950 million at the box office. It has also enjoyed an enormous critical success, bagging 13 Oscar nominations, including best director and best actor.
Both Murphy and Downey Jr. are being seen as favorites to win the 2024 Academy Award in their respective categories.
