“I think it was for the best”: Cillian Murphy Has No Regrets in Losing $2.4B Franchise Role After Bagging Lead Role in Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy’s intense commitment to playing the lead role in Oppenheimer has won high praise from his co-stars and fans. While being an excellent actor who could strike the perfect balance between Bruce Wayne and Batman well, he excels at playing characters who are more in Batman’s overtly dark direction. Nolan himself revealed that Murphy was screen-tested in scenes as Batman and Bruce Wayne to convince the studio executives that he was the right pick for Scarecrow.
Cillian Murphy Is Happy He Didn’t Get Cast As Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Trilogy
Speaking with GQ, to promote his most recent release in collaboration with ace director, Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy revealed that he is happy he didn’t get to play Batman. Though the actor originally auditioned for the movie’s lead role of Bruce Wayne, which ultimately went to Christian Bale, who played Batman throughout Nolan’s iconic The Dark Knight trilogy.
Murphy finally ended up playing Jonathan Crane, best known as the Batman villain Scarecrow, in Nolan’s million dollars reboot of the DC hero, 2005’s Batman Begins. Murphy said,
“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.”
That casting would not have been possible if the actor had played Batman.
Cillian Murphy Made Massive Sacrifices For Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy is being praised by his fans for his incredible acting in the role of Robert J. Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s latest release. But it is not just fans and critics who are inspired by his dedication when it comes to work, Murphy has also earned the respect of his renowned co-stars such as Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon to name a few.
Acknowledging Murphy’s efforts, the Iron Man star said, “I have never witnessed a greater sacrifice by a lead actor in my career.” He even described an incident that occurred over one of the weekends during the shoot. Downey Jr shared,
“We’d be like, ‘Hey, we got a three-day weekend. Maybe we’ll go antiquing in Santa Fe. What are you going to do?’ ‘Oh, I have to learn 30,000 words of Dutch. Have a nice time.’ But that’s the nature of the ask.”
Emily Blunt, who plays Murphy’s wife in the movie, talked about the extreme diet Murphy put himself on to look more like the titular theoretical physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Source: GQ
