How Chad Michael Murray Is Making Christmas Special for His Kids
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Chad Michael Murray became the crush of teens and pre-teens around the world when he debuted as Tristan Dugray in Gilmore Girls. He was just 19 years old at the time. Now, he's a 42-year-old father of three who simply can't wait to get the Christmas festivities started for his family.
"We're shooting here in Halifax right now and so I can't get the house ready until December 21, like four days before. And so I'm going to have to run and gun for the kids. It's crazy," Murray tells Parade.
"I'm a Clark Griswold, so I go big. Go big or go home! I'm always hanging on the roof and almost falling off and having a moment. It's fantastic. And I wouldn't trade it—I absolutely love it," he shares. "My kids go out with me, we listen to Christmas music [and] get the house ready."
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They continue decorating throughout the holiday season. "It's always a work in progress and never a finished product. And by the end of the holiday season, our house is throwing up Christmas and it's a little too much, but such is life," he says.
Since Murray is on location filming his show, Sullivan's Crossing (with former Gilmore Girls co-star Scott Patterson), he's having to hire out help for decorating this year to make sure things are special for his kids. "I love doing it myself—there's something that I just really enjoy about doing it on my own. And this year, I hired so that when we get home, they'll pull up to the house and it will feel Christmasy."
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Each year, Murray and his kids build gingerbread houses together. "We'll pick it out together and then we go home and do it the right way, try to build it up and make it real strong," the former One Tree Hill star says. "And then, of course, they can't eat it, so that's such a bummer."
That doesn't mean that Murray and his kids aren't indulging in all the fun treats the holiday season has to offer, however. "I go on the Lucky Charm diet, so it's Lucky Charms every day and then pie—a pumpkin pie, to be specific—with a whole bunch of Cool Whip," he jokes. "And I just let it go. I just go with it. I allow it. Five pounds minimum guaranteed between now and New Year's. And then I hit the ground running."
Christmas is the season for nostalgia, so we simply HAD to ask Murray about some of his rather iconic former roles. When asked to pick a favorite between One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls, he couldn't help but hesitate. "It's hard to pick! You can never really pick. They're all different," he said. But in the end, he went with One Tree Hill.
"It was Lucas Scott. It was a long time. It was a big part of my life, you know, my college years, be it," Murray says. "I did 18 episodes of Gilmore Girls, something like that, and I got my feet wet and I was so green and just learning the ropes. So they're both special."
When asked to choose between Freaky Friday and A Cinderella Story, he had an even harder time (which as any '90s baby can attest, that is a truly impossible question). "That's brutal! Brutal, brutal, brutal. Dude, there's no answer. There's no answer!"
"I would say I talk to more people about A Cinderella Story. So, impact-wise from my character's perspective, [it] would probably be that," he says. "But then Freaky Friday...just the impact that that's made worldwide is insurmountable. More people just ask me about A Cinderella Story, so that's the only answer I can give you."
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As a father of three, Chad Michael Murray has partnered with LenelS2's On the Safe Side campaign. LenelS2 is working to educate parents, communities and administrators on how to help children be safer in school. "You want everybody to feel safe and to know what to do and know how to execute everything in a safe manner in case of an emergency. And that's not just, you know, the worst possible case scenario, but, you know, we talk of fires, earthquakes, any emergency," Murray explains. "You want your kids to feel safe and to have an exit plan. You want them to have an adult that they feel safe and that they can connect with."
"You become your strongest and your weakest all in the single moment that your child is born, right? You become strongest because you will do anything. You will fight, claw tooth and nail, whatever you've got to do to scrape together enough to make sure that they're safe, fed, healthy and happy," he says. "But at the same time, you're your weakest because if anything ever happened to them, there's there's no answer. There's no answer. And so I yeah, I wouldn't define it as anxiety, but strength, fortitude, a lot of conversation, a lot of communication."
"For me, I just want the kids to feel that special glow. They're kids for such a minor portion of time, and I want to give that to them and hopefully they'll want to give to their kids, my grandkids, of course," Murray shares.
