Peaky Blinders actor Cillian Murphy did a screen test to play Batman in the Batsuit

Christopher Nolan was so impressed he gave him the role of the film's villain instead

Cillian Murphy, who is currently wreaking havoc as Tommy Shelby in BBC2 drama Peaky Blinders, is an actor who has proved he can just as easily play a hero as effectively as he can a villain.

This point is accentuated by a surfacing clip which shows director Christopher Nolan detailing the Irish actor's screen test for the caped crusader in 2005 film Batman Begins.

In the brief clip, Murphy can be seen acting out the memorable scene in which Batman interrogates Detective Flass (Mark Boone Junior) about Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) - in the bat suit that was eventually worn by Christian Bale.

Speaking about the screen test, Nolan said: "He wasn't right for that part in the way that Christian was, but the performance was incredible and everyone took huge notice of it."

"I then was able to go to the studio and ask to put him in as Crane, as Scarecrow, in Batman Begins."

Bale, who returned to play the character in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - recently revealed that he didn't rate his performance of Bruce Wayne in Nolan's trilogy.

Murphy went on to reprise the role of Crane in the final two Batman films and also worked with the filmmaker on Inception. They will reunite for a fifth time with new WWII drama Dunkirk.