Peaky Blinders Cillian Murphy Once Shared He ‘Knew’ He Wasn’t The Right Person For Nolan’s Batman Role After Audition
Cillian Murphy once admitted that he ultimately realized that he is not the “physical specimen to play Bruce Wayne” in The Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan.
Cillian Murphy shared how he knew he wasn’t the right fit for Batman(Photo Credit –Instagram)
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Cillian Murphy has starred in several blockbusters and his prowess of immersing himself in the character is exceptionally lauded not only by his fans but industry alike. Before Murphy was set to lead in Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer, he had auditioned to play Batman in the Dark Knight trilogy and recalled his time of making wrong choices.
During his appearance on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast last year, the Irish actor shared that he ultimately realized that he was not the right choice to play Bruce Wayne/Batman after he auditioned for the role wearing the costume Val Kilmer wore for 1995’s Batman Forever.
When Murphy was asked when he first met the filmmaker, he said, “So, that was 20 years ago. I think he’d seen 28 Days Later, actually. We met up here in L.A. He for some reason wanted me to screen test for Batman, which I think I knew — and he knew — I was wrong for. But I did the test, and then he saw something in that and cast me as Scarecrow [in Batman Begins] and we continued on making movies.”
He continued, “I don’t think I’m the physical specimen to play Bruce Wayne,” he admitted when Maron asked the reason. Murphy added, “[Christian Bale] transformed himself into that role and he’s done many, many times. I think he defined that role as Batman.”
Murphy shared that Batman Forever was the last live-action Batman movie before Nolan’s films. As a result, all actors who auditioned for the role wore Kilmer’s suit from that movie. He shared his experience trying on the suit, “It was quite roomy. It’s a f—— operation getting into those things.”
Although Murphy didn’t play Batman, he did appear in all three Dark Knight movies as the villain Scarecrow. He has also played supporting roles in Nolan’s iconic works including Dunkirk and Inception.
Murphy further discussed his Batman audition during the podcast, “It wasn’t right. It wasn’t right. Imagine this, I’m getting to try on a suit, a Batman suit, on the [Warner Bros.] lot, and do a screen test for Christopher Nolan. That’s all my expectations were at the time.”
