Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy always nails the character he plays on the screen, no matter how big or small the role is. The Irish actor seems to avoid being typecast, and fans almost always remember him from each of his past projects. Long before he starred in Christopher Nolan’s latest biopic thriller, Murphy already worked with the director in The Dark Knight trilogy.
The 47-year-old actor auditioned to play the role of Batman, a part that eventually went to Christian Bale. Of course, he did not snag the title of the Caped Crusader, but he ultimately appeared as Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow.
Cillian Murphy Speaks Up About Losing Batman Role To Christian Bale
Speaking with GQ, Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy recalled the time he almost officially wore the Batsuit and confessed that he does not regret losing the part to Christian Bale:
“I think it was for the best because we got Christian Bale’s performance, which is a stunning interpretation of that role. I never considered myself as the right physical specimen for Batman. To me, it was always going to be Christian Bale.”
Murphy has always proclaimed that Bale was the perfect actor to bring to life the complex story of Batman. He shared via WTF with Marc Maron podcast:
“I don’t think I’m the physical specimen to play Bruce Wayne. [Christian Bale] transformed himself into that role, and he’s done many, many times. I think he defined that role as Batman.”
Christopher Nolan saw something in Murphy that made him eventually decide to take the actor in for the villain role of Scarecrow. The filmmaker told Entertainment Weekly:
“When we had our first conversation I think both of us knew that you weren’t going to wind up playing Batman. But I really wanted to get on set with you, I wanted to get you on film. We did those screen tests very elaborately. Everybody was so excited by watching you perform that when I then said to them, ‘Okay, Christian Bale is Batman, but what about Cillian to play Scarecrow?’ there was no dissent.”
Murphy had that aura that Nolan could not ignore, and it would definitely be a waste of great talent had he not given him the role of Jonathan Crane.
Cillian Murphy Would Always Show Up For Christopher Nolan
Cillian Murphy went on to play several supporting roles in Nolan’s movies, including Dunkirk and Inception, before finally landing on his first-ever lead role in Oppenheimer. He has been vocal about his willingness to work with the director (via AP News):
“I have always said publicly and privately, to Chris, that if I’m available and you want me to be in a movie, I’m there. I don’t really care about the size of the part. But deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him.”
The actor certainly knows what kind of movie roles suit him perfectly, and that’s why he acknowledged the fact that, as soon as he finished the screen test for Batman, he already knew it was not meant for him. He admitted in an interview with Inside Total Film that he just wanted to collaborate with Nolan:
“It was more exciting than nerve-wracking because I’d never considered myself to be the sort of perfect physical specimen for Batman. It was just the opportunity to get to work with him, even in a brief way.”
And now, here we are with Murphy and Nolan’s sixth-time collaboration. Fans can definitely expect more projects from the pair in the future!
The Dark Knight trilogy is available on Netflix
Sources: GQ, WTF with Marc Maron, EW, AP News, TF
