Christian Bale's original audition for Batman Begins has been released. The screen test also features Amy Adams, reading for Katie Holmes' part in the film.

The screen test is part of the special features in The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector's Edition, which releases on Sept. 24.

Adams wasn't auditioning for the role -- she was just filling in for Holmes' part opposite Bale for the screen test, doing it as somewhat of a favor for one of the producers.

Director Christopher Nolan talks about his reasons for picking Bale to play the part in the clip.

"It's not about acting ability or chemistry or any of those things. It's being able to project this extraordinary iconography, from the inside, it's visual iconography," Nolan said. "Christian had somehow figures this out before the screen test that you could not give a normal performance, you could not give an ordinary performance, you had to project massive energy through this costume in order to not question the costume."

Nolan goes on to add that Bale's voice also left a great impression, as it supported the visual appearance of the character. "He had decided that Batman needed to have a different voice to Bruce Wayne, he needed to put on a voice."

The DVD also features Cillian Murphy's audition for the role of the broody superhero. Here's a still of Murphy, in costume, from the screen test:

Murphy portrayed Dr. Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), The Dark Knight (2008), and Batman Begins (2005).

Batman News revealed some other interesting details about the auditions in the special features section.

While Murphy didn't make the cut for Batman, Nolan was impressed by his performance and asked him to play the Scarecrow instead.

It was also revealed that Nolan originally wanted to cast Gary Oldman for the role of Gordon but Oldman wasn't interested as he had played too many villainous roles in his career.

There is also some behind-the-scenes footage featuring Heath Ledger as the joker but it is very brief. In that bit, Nolan talks about his first meeting with Ledger and how other actors he met for the role were intimidated by Jack Nicholson's iconic portrayal of the villain in previous Batman films.

Watch Bale's audition here:

Tags: Christian Bale katie holmes batman