How Christopher Nolan Tricked Batman Begins Producers Into Casting One Fan-Favorite Actor
Oppenheimer's Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy detail how they tricked the producers of Batman Begins into casting the actor in the DC film. Batman Begins marked the duo's first collaboration in 2005, and has continued in its sequels, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, and Dunkirk. Their latest movie is Oppenheimer, which documents the creation of the atomic bomb. While promoting Oppenheimer, Nolan and Murphy sat with Entertainment Weekly to discuss their working relationship, where the topic of how Murphy landed his role in Batman Begins came up.
Christopher Nolan revealed how he had to trick the Batman Begins producers into casting Cillian Murphy as the villainous Scarecrow. Murphy originally auditioned for Batman, but Nolan liked his performance so much that he concocted a way to slide the actor in as the film's lead antagonist. Before Batman Begins, Murphy's biggest role was in 28 Days Later.
"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," Nolan said.
He continued, "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. 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."
How Batman Fits Into James Gunn's New DC Universe
Filmmakers James Gunn and Peter Safran are the co-CEOs of DC Studios, and they unveiled their grand plans back in January. Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters is what they're billing the opening salvo of their DC Universe, with a mix of both movies and TV shows featuring well-known and obscure characters. One of those films is The Brave and The Bold, which should include Batman in some capacity.
As well, they are keeping DC's Elseworlds approach, meaning Matt Reeves' The Batman Universe will continue, starring Robert Pattinson. A sequel, titled The Batman: Part II, is already in development.
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