Christopher Nolan recalls 'being struck' by Cillian Murphy’s ‘crazy eyes’

Christopher Nolan revealed he first discovered Cillian Murphy when he saw a picture of the actor on a magazine cover, saying he was “struck” by his presence.

Discussing their first meeting on the set of Batman Begins, the Oppenheimer director said he first came across Murphy and his “crazy eyes” after seeing a picture of him in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Speaking with the Peaky Blinders star for Entertainment Weekly, Nolan revealed he called Murphy to audition for the role of Bruce Wayne, which ultimately went to Christian Bale.

Nolan said Murphy’s audition sparked an “electric atmosphere” among the crew, and there was unanimous agreement to have him play the role of Dr. Jonathan Crane a.k.a Scarecrow.

“It was clear to me from the beginning that I wasn't Batman material. It felt to me that it was correct and right that it should be Christian Bale for that part,” Murphy confessed.

“But I remember the buzz of trying on the suit and being directed by you. Those tests were high production values,” he added.

To this, Nolan admitted, “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.”

He continued: “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. 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. All the previous Batman villains had been played by huge movie stars: Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Carrey, that kind of thing.”

The Oscar-nominated director concluded, “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.”

The two went on to collaborate for Nolan's subsequent two films, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises and also teamed up for Inception, Dunkirk and their latest release Oppenheimer.