13 Movie Villains You Didn't Know Almost Played The Hero

4. Cillian Murphy Was Almost Batman Before He Was The Scarecrow

Christopher Nolan clearly has a soft-spot for certain actors and tends to cast recurring faces in his movies, and it is almost inevitable that he will turn to Cillian Murphy every time he puts a cast together: he is now almost as synonymous with the director as Billy Murray is with Wes Anderson films.

And that creative love affair can be traced back to 2005, when Nolan has staggered by Murphy's audition for Batman Begins, and particularly by the intensity of his eyes - enough to put the actor in all three of his Dark Knight trilogy. But Murphy hadn't initially tested for Scarecrow, the part he ultimately went for, as his initial intended quarry was Batman himself.

On his hunt for Batman, Nolan auditioned a huge number of actors, including Murphy, whose audition video in which he wears the Batsuit from Batman Forever emerged recently. Nolan conceded that Murphy wasn't right for the role, but was suitably impressed and went to Warners to ask for the right to cast him as Crane.