Jake Gyllenhaal Found It ‘Pretty Cool’ That Christopher Nolan Called Him To Tell He'd Lost Batman Role

In 'Moulin Rouge', the audition process came down to Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger and Ewan McGregor. It’s here where Gyllenhaal first heard of Ledger, who later featured as his co-star in 'Brokeback Mountain'.

“What I felt was disappointment when I didn’t get it. Both Heath and I were disappointed,” Gyllenhaal said on 'The Howard Stern Show'. “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.”

The actor maintained that healthy mindset when he lost out on 'Batman Begins', reports variety.com. “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),” Gyllenhaal said.

“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 colour 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.”

He added: “To me, I just go: ‘Look at how far you got! So just try and keeping going.’ That’s what I felt,” the actor continued. “I remember getting a call from Christopher Nolan and thinking, ‘I just got a call personally from Christopher Nolan.”

He found it “pretty cool.”

“That’s pretty cool. I’ve got 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.”