Cinema circles reality and reality does not exempt cinema, after all, creating a vicious loop of cinematic paradox. It is complex for many but a tea-time talk for cinematic masterminds like Christopher Nolan, whose fingers aim for the stars with his arms on Cillian Murphy’s shoulder. As longtime collaborators, their journey has given rise to some of the biggest blockbusters in Hollywood. Still, few remain aware that Nolan’s first glance at Murphy was nothing short of an epiphany.

While Nolan’s genius often finds home in his intricate storytelling, it might come as a shocker that his cinematic truth also finds comfort in reality and the same was his and Murphy’s first meeting- a cinematic reality.

Christopher Nolan’s eye on Cillian Murphy- the beginning of a cinematic bond

Recently, the Oppenheimer director, Christopher Nolan, sat down for Deadline’s AwardsLine issue along with Cillian Murphy. The atomic duo talked about many things, among which was a vivid description of the first time Nolan saw Murphy. Recalling the instance, Nolan rattled his memory lane talking about a picture of Murphy in a newspaper which was “probably the San Francisco Chronicle”. For Nolan, who was looking for Batman’s lead back then, it was immediately “love at first sight”.

The picture was a still from Danny Boyle’s apocalyptic thriller, 28 Days Later. Nolan described the snap and how Murphy was “covered in blood”. Despite the smearing crimson, it was Murphy’s Tiffany blue eyes. Upon being asked if Nolan had a chance to watch the movie before the glimpse in the newspaper, the director nodded negatively. However, he remembered precisely forming an “instinctive and instant connection” just with his eyes on the picture that sparked his intuition that the “guy’s got something”.

Despite Nolan’s confidence in him from the first glance, the same was far from true about Murphy, who later auditioned for the Batman lead.

Cillian Murphy’s lack of confidence over his Batman screen test

Back then, Nolan’s search for Batman’s protagonist led to his chance upon Cillian Murphy, and finally, the two fixed a meeting in LA. Following this, the Irish actor auditioned for Batman for The Dark Knight, but the role ultimately went to Christian Bale. Talking to Josh Horowitz on the Sad, Happy, Confused podcast, Murphy recently took fans back to the day when he felt he already “knew” he lost his first-ever role for Nolan.

When the Oppenheimer actor gave his screen tests for Batman, he apparently already “knew” that “Christian Bale was the obvious choice” because of his lack of “physicality then”. The actor added that a “week or two later”, Nolan even called to inform of his fears turning to reality. Although at the moment Murphy’s under-confidence may have had a role in the snub, Nolan’s stance now clears it out that their crossing paths were probably written in the stars.

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