Chad Michael Murray on Challenging Tropes by Stripping in Holiday Film

Newsweek

5 days ago

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Actor Chad Michael Murray told Newsweek he loves playing roles "challenging the traditional tropes," referencing his 2024 Christmas movie, which breaks from the typical holiday romantic comedy narrative by casting him as a stripper.
Murray is known for a range of roles in One Tree Hill, Freaky Friday, and Sullivan's Crossing, and others, and is in the upcoming sequel Freakier Friday. The 43-year-old actor sat down with Newsweek to discuss the highly anticipated film, his journey with mental health, reflections on his career, and the passion that continues to fuel his love for acting.
What To Know
In the Netflix film The Merry Gentlemen, Murray played Luke, a small‑town contractor who becomes the main love interest and joins an all‑male holiday dance show to save a local venue.
"I love challenging the traditional tropes. I love having fun, because I felt this was definitely outside the box," he told Newsweek about the role.
He noted that scripts like The Merry Gentlemen don't come up often, adding, "How many times in your career are you going to be able to play stripper?"
For Murray, the role was "just a no-brainer—the opportunity to go, really get into dancing and challenge myself there and be terrified, that was exciting to me."
Actor Chad Michael Murray speaks at the Newsweek office in Manhattan on July 29, 2025.
Actor Chad Michael Murray speaks at the Newsweek office in Manhattan on July 29, 2025.
Hellen Elizondo for Newsweek
The challenge and the unknown appealed to him.
"It scared me. So, I just wanted to do it. I wanted to get out there. I wanted to dance. I wanted to do something different, I wanted to make people laugh and realize we don't have to take this so seriously, it's fun, it's supposed to be fun," he said.
Murray had never danced professionally before the film but threw himself into the role, spending hours in dance classes to train for the part.
Ahead of the movie's release, Murray said he was watching with his wife when his eldest daughter, who was 7 years old at the time, walked in.
"She just came in and just started smacking me, 'Daddy, what did you do, put your shirt on!'" he told Newsweek, laughing, adding "adorable."
Throughout his conversation with Newsweek, Murray said that acting with the support of his wife and children "makes it so much better." He added that fatherhood has "changed everything" for him, including the types of roles he takes and the timing of his projects.
Chad Michael Murray on Freakier Friday
"Dare I say, it might be better than the first," said the actor, who reprises his role as Jake in the highly anticipated sequel to the beloved 2003 comedy Freaky Friday, which also sees the return of original stars Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis
"It really genuinely is hysterical," he said about the upcoming film, joking that "it will make you live longer."
Murray, who has repeatedly said he makes movies to offer audiences a brief escape from the various stresses of life, said "this movie is going to lower your cortisol," describing it as putting the viewer on "cloud nine," and "feeling good."
Freakier Friday premieres August 8.