Jake Gyllenhaal nearly ended up replacing Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 2 after the actor injured his back working on Seabiscuit. That didn't pan out, and a few years later, he was a contender for the title role in Batman Begins.
Christian Bale ended up playing the Dark Knight, of course, and Gyllenhaal recently reflected on missing out on both Batman and a lead role in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! in a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show.
While writer David S. Goyer has confirmed he pushed for the Road House star to play Bruce Wayne, this marks the first time Gyllenhaal himself has commented on being passed over by Christopher Nolan.
"What I felt was disappointment when I didn’t get it. Both Heath [Ledger] and I were disappointed. But that’s Ewan McGregor's part. You learn to go, 'There’s another one. I can try and go in and audition for another one. I’ll get something else.' You keep that attitude."
"To [Nolan’s] credit and to Baz [Luhrmann’s] credit, both of those directors called me personally to tell me [I didn’t get the role]," the actor said of missing out on donning Batman's cape and cowl. "And they will tell you why. When you get that far, there’s a real legitimacy to you potentially getting something."
"It's not like they’re going, 'Oh, thanks so much.' They are going, 'I saw these aspects of you that I really wanted in the role and are wonderful, but in the end I ended up moving this way because it matches better with this person who is opposite you or would be opposite you. The color of their hair or their height, whatever it is!' There are all these non factors that really are the inexplicable stuff that if you start to pick away at it doesn’t work, it’s not healthy."
Gyllenhaal adds, "To me, I just go: 'Look at how far you got! So just try and keeping going.' That’s what I felt. I remember getting a call from Christopher Nolan and thinking, 'I just got a call personally from Christopher Nolan. That’s pretty cool. I’ve gotten pretty far.'"
"I went from them going they aren’t sure [about me] to a call saying they’re really thinking about you for this movie. So okay, I should keep going. I should just keep going."
Around the time Nolan was eyeing him for Batman, Gyllenhaal was riding high from the success of The Day After Tomorrow, a movie which led to him later delivering critically acclaimed performances in the likes of Brokeback Mountain and Jarhead.
He'd also finally get his shot at a superhero movie when he played the villainous Mysterio in 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Recently, Gyllenhaal said playing Batman in DC Studios' DCU would be "an honour." Hear more from the actor about that by clicking here.