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03rd Jun 2021

Cillian Murphy looks back on his time as Scarecrow in The Dark Knight Trilogy

Rory Cashin

It is almost ten years since Nolan’s Batman movies hit the big screen.

There are few higher honours in acting than being invited to play a villain in a Batman movie.

Fewer still get to return to the role more than once, which is what makes Cillian Murphy’s portrayal of Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow, stand out from the crowd.

First appearing as one of the major antagonists in 2005’s Batman Begins, Murphy returned in smaller-but-still-very-entertaining scenes in both 2008’s The Dark Knight and 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.

We recently caught up with Murphy in the run-up to the release of A Quiet Place II, and since we’re closing in on the decade since the end of Nolan’s trilogy, we had to ask if there were any major standout memories from working on those landmark superhero movies.

Murphy told us: “I never expected to find myself on a Batman set, y’know? And having a fight scene with Batman, it never occurred to me really, doing theatre in Ireland for years, that was never on the agenda.

“And I suppose for me, I wasn’t really thinking about it being a Batman movie, I was thinking about ‘Oh, and opportunity to work with Christopher Nolan’. That is how I approach these things. Really, honestly, I couldn’t have cared less about what kind of film it was, I just wanted to work with him.

“And then it developed into a relationship where we’ve done a few things together now, and I feel so privileged to have been able to do that. And those films are magnificent, again I haven’t watched them in a long time.

“Hopefully there is some kind of special version that comes out with loads of extras. But the thing with [Nolan] is that there’s not many extras, because he just shoots the script. So there’s never any deleted scenes or anything, because he never shoots more than he needs. He’s got it all mapped out so mathematically.”

Since Nolan’s movies featured both Murphy and fellow Irish actor Liam Neeson in major roles, it does seem like Batman films are a bit of a magnet for Irish talent, as the upcoming version will star both Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan, and Murphy is already looking forward to checking that one out, telling us:

“I am very excited to see the new version with Colin and Barry, they’ll be amazing in it. I saw the trailer, it looks class.”

The Batman is due to arrive in Irish cinemas in March 2022, while A Quiet Place Part II will debut on the big screens here on Monday, 7 June.

Clip via Paramount Pictures UK

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