Actors not landing the roles they audition for can still lead to them getting cast in a different part. Tom Hiddleston tried out for Thor, and ended up playing Loki with great acclaim. Recently, Nicholas Hoult landed the role of Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy, even though he originally auditioned to play the Man of Steel--and even tried out for Batman at one point for Matt Reeves. Cillian Murphy had a similar career trajectory as he auditioned for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins to play the Dark Knight, even donning Val Kilmer's old Batsuit for the audition.

While he didn't make the cut for Batman, Murphy ended up working with Nolan throughout his Dark Knight trilogy as Dr. Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow. It would also lead to a 20-year career journey with Nolan which recently helped Murphy earn his first Oscar nomination in Oppenheimer. The Oscar-nominated director and actor spoke to Deadline, with Nolan explaining why he inevitably went with Christian Bale over Murphy, but also what makes him a fascinating actor.

"I don't think he had the physicality at the time," says Nolan. "We tested everyone as Bruce Wayne and we tested them as Batman, and the thing that Christian had that was so striking was that he understood that so much of acting is about reality. So much of acting is about emotional truth. And when you put on a costume like the Batsuit, you have to become this icon. Christian had this crazy energy that he just directed. He'd figured out how that worked and what that would be--the way Bruce Wayne does in the film. He adopts this persona. It's a very specific thing. And he tore a hole on the screen as Batman. It was like, there was no question."