Chad Michael Murray has come full circle in his career. He secured his place in pop culture as Lucas Scott, the intense and emotional basketball player on “One Tree Hill” for six seasons as a series regular on the WB and CW from 2003 to 2008. After working on other series away from the network and starting a family, Murray returned to the CW for a role in “Riverdale.” If you’re wondering what happened to Murray, in 2023, he returned to TV to play California “Cal” Jones in “Sullivan’s Crossing,” a Canadian television adaptation of the romance novel series of the same name by Robyn Carr. There are a few similarities between “One Tree Hill” and “Sullivan’s Crossing,” including the intimate, small town vibes and juicy love triangles. Ahead of “Sullivan’s Crossing” season 5, which was announced in July 2026, Murray told USA Today another cue he hoped the series would take from “One Tree Hill.”
“I also want Shandon’s Diner to become a musical hangout, like Karen’s Cafe [in “One Tree Hill”],” he said. “I want artists to come in and perform, do a quick little arc on it, get some cool music.” Shandon’s Diner is the local hangout on “Sullivan’s Crossing” run by fictional siblings Rob (Reid Price) and Sydney Shandon (Lindura). The fictional Karen’s Cafe was similar on “One Tree Hill,” although it evolved from a cafe to a nightclub called TRIC through the years. Musical acts like Sheryl Crow, Gavin DeGraw, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World and others performed live on the hit drama. Artists like Bethany Joy Lenz, Tyler Hilton, Kate Voegele, and Jana Kramer had series regular or recurring roles on the show and also performed their music.
The surprising artist Chad Michael Murray wants to welcome to ‘Sullivan’s Crossing’
When asked who he’d like to see perform at Shandon’s Diner, most of Chad Michael Murray’s choices leaned country. He named Dan + Shay and Florida Georgia Line (who reunited in 2026). As he explained, “Sullivan’s Crossing” is set in a campground in the woods, so the genre makes sense for the local hangout. “We could get away with some of those acts coming in and giving us slow jams,” he said, adding that it would give those artists a chance to flex their acting muscles.
Murray also named an artist who isn’t in the country music scene and definitely isn’t new to acting —singer Brandy Norwood, his former on-screen love interest on “Star,” where he guest-starred on eight episodes between 2018 and 2019. He also appeared in a music video Brandy made for the show for the song “All I Need.” From what the “Almost Doesn’t Count” singer told Us Weekly about working with Murray, it wouldn’t be hard to convince her to come and film “Sullivan’s Crossing” in the woods of Nova Scotia.
Their characters had an intense relationship and had to film a lot of intimate scenes together. “[Chad’s] very respectful. Told me so much about his family and how he travels with them everywhere. He’s just a really good, respectable guy. I didn’t feel like I was gonna have any problems doing those scenes with him,” Brandy said. Cal asked his girlfriend Maggie (Morgan Kohan) a big question in the season 4 finale. But in a romantic drama, there’s always room for another ghost of someone’s past to return.
