Did you know Cillian Murphy originally auditioned to play Batman? Here’s how he ended up playing Scarecrow

Cillian Murphy, the talented actor is now set to release his ambitious project Oppenheimer, which is helmed by the master craftsman Christopher Nolan, in July, this year. According to the actor, it was his dream to play the lead role in a Nolan directorial. He was keen to bag the titular role in Oppenheimer, which is based on the life of theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer. However, Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan’s working relationship began around 2 decades ago, during the casting process of the Batman series.

Cillian Murphy originally auditioned to play Batman

For the unversed, Cillian Murphy initially met Christopher Nolan when he auditioned to play the role of Bruce Wayne aka Batman in the celebrated film franchise. But, in their recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor-director duo admitted that both of them were quite sure that Murphy might not bag the role, right from their first conversation. 

“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, on 35mm, with a little set. There was just an electric atmosphere in the crew when you started to perform,” recalled Christopher Nolan.

Here’s how Cillian Murphy bagged the role of Scarecrow

Even though the team members were already sure that Christian Bale is set to play Bruce Wayne/Batman, director Nolan still set up a screen test for Cillian Murphy with the intention to convince the studio executives to cast the actor as the antagonist, Scarecrow. “We did two scenes — there was a Bruce Wayne scene and a Batman scene — and I made sure that executives came down and watched what you were doing on set,” revealed the celebrated filmmaker.

“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. All the previous Batman villains had been played by huge movie stars: Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Carrey, that kind of thing. That was a big leap for them and it really was purely on the basis of that test. So that’s how you got to play Scarecrow,” concluded Christopher Nolan.

Cillian Murphy about playing Scarecrow

The actor, on the other hand, revealed that he always knew that he is not ‘Batman material’, and was just so keen to work with Christopher Nolan. “It felt to me that it was correct and right that it should be Christian Bale for that part. But I remember the buzz of trying on the suit and being directed by you. Those tests were high production values,” he revealed. “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,” Cillian Murphy concluded.

ALSO READ: Oppenheimer Trailer: Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt work towards the creation of an atomic bomb