Chad Michael Murray Chooses His Roles With His Kids in Mind, So They Don’t See “Dad’s Butt Posted All Over Their Locker”
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Chad Michael Murray cemented himself as an early 2000s dreamboat with roles in A Cinderella Story, One Tree Hill, Freaky Friday and more. Now, as a father of three, the actor says his kids are one of his biggest considerations when choosing new roles.
The Mother of the Bride star sat down with Numéro Netherlands ahead of the release of the Netflix movie and discussed his decades-long career, future projects and how he always puts his family first.
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“I would say, a lot of material, especially over the past five to eight years since my son was born, I choose because I think one of the last things you really want is for your kids to be berated in school for what their parents are doing,” Murray told the publication. “I don’t want my kids going to school, being freshmen in high school, and Dad’s butt posted all over their locker. That’s not fair to them, so making decisions for that has been great.”
The Gilmore Girls actor explained that he works with his wife, Sarah Roemer, to keep everything grounded and peaceful for their family. And while he loves his job, he stressed that it’s just a job and the most important thing to him is to be around for his kids.
“I’m making sure that I’m there every day, that we travel together as a pack, so we don’t break up the pack when we travel,” he said. “When we are in Nova Scotia filming Sullivan’s Crossing, we’re all there. I get to work, and I get to go home and play with the babies. Now, is this extra work for me to throw on top, so I can’t be solely focused on Sullivan’s Crossing? Yeah, but that just means I need to better place my time and figure out how do I manage this all?”
The Riverdale actor shared that he goes to work and then goes home to spend time playing with his kids, before focusing on more work once he’s put them to bed. When he has weekend trips for autograph signing, they all go together.
“It’s important that they’re here, because I don’t believe in breaking up the pack to the point where they’re like ‘Oh, dad’s on another trip,'” he noted. “And for me, I wouldn’t trade this for anything, no matter the amount of success, it doesn’t matter. It trumps all of that.”
Elsewhere in the profile, Murray opened up about future projects he has on the horizon. There are two, however, that he did not address but would be particularly excited to revisit.
In a conversation with Entertainment Tonight at the Mother of the Bride premiere on Thursday, the House of Wax actor noted he’d love to get A Cinderella Story sequel going and be a part of the upcoming Freaky Friday 2.
While there has been no talk of returning to San Fernando Valley for the Hilary Duff-starring rom-com, Murray shared that his daughter saw the film recently and encouraged him to make another one. He said that he would gladly reprise his role as Austin Ames if there ever were to be A Cinderella Story sequel.
“Here you go, Hil. From me to you, let’s do it,” Murray told the publication, calling to the actress who played Sam. He even has a possible idea for the script, adding, “I think, as we know, things don’t always work out so I think they went their separate ways, and we bring them back now, post splits from their significant others, into a new Cinderella story.”
There may not be plans for a second Cinderella Story, but there is another Freaky Friday in the works with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis reprising their roles. While there have been no announcements that any other castmembers will be returning for the sequel, Murray would love to play Jake again.
“How great would that be? To bring Jake back? It’s one of those things where [it was] such a big part of my life,” he said, noting one of the reasons why he wanted to be a part of Mother of the Bride was to reunite with Freaky Friday director Mark Waters. “When Mark called, and I got to talk to Mark, and I said, ‘Mark, we’re gonna get the band back together. Let’s go.'”
Mother of the Bride sees Murray portray Lucas opposite Brooke Shields’ Lana and Benjamin Bratt’s Will, two exes thrown together years after a devastating breakup when their kids from other relationships share they’re getting married.
The rom-com is streaming on Netflix now.
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