Robert Downey Jr. Auditioned for Batman Begins

Robert Downey Jr. is leading the Best Actor Oscar race for his role in Chris Nolan’s Oppenheimer, but the pair almost worked together on an earlier film.

That film is 2005’s Batman Begins. Downey Jr. wanted to play the Scarecrow role, Batman’s primary antagonist in the film, but Nolan had other plans.

Speaking at a Q&A session for Oppenheimer presented by American Cinematheque, the actor said, "I remember meeting [Nolan] for tea, and I was like, 'He doesn't seem like he's really leaning in on this interview.’ He was polite and all that, but you can tell when someone is kind of like, 'It's not gonna go anywhere.'"

Downey Jr. ultimately lost out to Cillian Murphy, who played Scarecrow in both Batman Begins and its second sequel, 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.

It worked out well for everyone in the end. Both actors went on to give career-best performances in Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

Watch the clip of Downey Jr. shared by Twitter user @griffschiller below.

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