Robert Downey Jr. Pitched Himself For a Role in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins’

Let’s rewind to 2005 when Robert Downey Jr. had a rendezvous with Christopher Nolan and the topic of discussion? None other than the role of Scarecrow in ‘Batman Begins.’

During a recent Q&A after a screening of ‘Oppenheimer’ at the Aero Theater in Los Angeles, Downey Jr. spilled the beans about the meeting. In a video shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) by Griffin Schiller, he humorously recalled the moment, saying, “I’m pretty sure that I heard like, ‘There’s this role, Scarecrow’ and I was like, ‘psh, I’m Scarecrow.’”

But here’s the twist – as the meeting unfolded over tea, Downey Jr. sensed that Nolan wasn’t fully sold on the idea. He shared, “He doesn’t seem like he’s really leaning in on this interview. It’s not gonna go your way.”

Ultimately, the coveted role of Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow, didn’t land in Downey Jr.’s lap. Instead, it went to his ‘Oppenheimer’ co-star Cillian Murphy. Nolan recently explained why he chose Murphy for the villain role in ‘Batman Begins.’

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In an interview, Nolan revealed that after a screen test, Murphy didn’t feel like “Batman material.” Nolan recalled, “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.”

It turns out, that Nolan took a bold step by casting a rising star like Murphy for a Batman villain role, breaking the tradition of big-name actors playing such characters. And that’s how Cillian Murphy got the coveted role of Scarecrow, making history with a screen test that left everyone in awe. 

– Farheen Ali