Cillian Murphy found fame when he starred as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s iconic 2005 film Batman Begins. Being the secondary antagonist of the film, Murphy received plenty of screentime but he could have had more if he would’ve got the role of Bruce Wayne in the film.
In a YouTube video, the screentest of Cillian Murphy as Bruce Wayne/Batman was revealed to the world. Having a noteworthy performance in the screentest, Christopher Nolan was quite impressed with the actor but chose to go with Christian Bale instead.
Cillian Murphy’s Screentest As Batman Was Amazing
Before people recognized him as the iconic chain-smoking & whiskey-drinking Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy had another important role to portray back in 2005. The actor starred as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins but he also had auditioned for the lead role of Batman!
In a YouTube video, the screentest of Cillian Murphy as Bruce Wayne was revealed and the actor does look amazing. Although his physique wasn’t as muscular as Christian Bale, Nolan revealed that there was an intenseness in Murphy’s eyes. In the YouTube video, Christopher Nolan starts by saying that although Murphy wasn’t right for the role of Batman, his performance was incredible during the screentest.
“He wasn’t right for that part in the way that Christian [Bale] was. But the performance was incredible and everybody took huge notice of it while we were shooting it, then while we watched the tests.”
Although Christopher Nolan decided to go with Christian Bale in the lead role, the released screentests proved just how great of an actor Murphy is. Fans took to the comment section of the YouTube video to praise the actor while others agreed with Nolan’s decision.
Fans Praised Cillian Murphy’s Screentest As Batman
With Cillian Murphy starring as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Nolan’s recently released magnum opus Oppenheimer, fans couldn’t help but notice the actor’s versatility of acting. Taking to the comment section of the YouTube video, fans stated that the actor looked like Bruce Wayne if Wayne was a serial killer alongside many other comments.
“Cillians voice as Batman is perfection. Shame that his Bruce Wayne really looks like a serial killer lol”
“It’s a damn shame Cillian Murphy isn’t an a-list celebrity actor. He is one of the best actors in the business. Should have won multiple Oscar’s by now.”
“Murphy would be perfect for Batman now. He buffed up since, he has the grave voice, you don’t have to mimick it for the role and as Tommy Shelby he has shown he can play a complicated shades of grey character.”
“Pretty trippy seeing Cillian in the Bat-suit, reminds me of Tom Hiddleston’s Thor. Quite mind-blowing!”
Well, although it would have been fun to see a world where Cillian Murphy was Bruce Wayne, the story never came to pass. Murphy however found fame by starring in the iconic role of Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders. The actor got to work once again with Christopher Nolan with the release of Oppenheimer with Murphy in the lead and Nolan as the director.
Oppenheimer is currently screening in theaters across the world for audiences to see.
Source: YouTube
