Chad Michael Murray “prayed a lot” for his role in SULLIVAN’S CROSSING.
“I prayed a lot about it,” he said during a recent appearance on the TODAY show. “You know, a lot of people are manifestation people. I pray. And for two and a half years, I was praying.”
Murray mentioned his “three beautiful little babies” — a son and two daughters, whose names he and his wife, Sarah Roemer, have decided not to share publicly — as the reason for his prayers about the job.
“I just wanted to be on something that felt like this, something that I felt like people could have it on in the background, they wouldn’t feel judged. Where my son wouldn’t have, you know, [a picture of] Dad’s booty hung up in his locker,” he shared, referring to some of his more risqué past roles. “I just didn’t want them to go through that.”
Murray continued, “So that, and every probably 10 years or so, I can kind of recreate who I want to be and go after something different. And right now, this was the perfect place for me to raise kids and get tied into the community and especially Halifax; we love that place. Coach my son’s football team, three [or] four days of work, and then I get to be dad. It’s great.”
The ONE TREE HILL actor talked to Variety about joining the cast of SULLIVAN’S CROSSING, saying, “I was looking for something that didn’t feel too gratuitous for where I’m at in my life.”
He also liked the fact that he wasn’t No. 1 on the call sheet, which allows him more time off that he uses to “completely submerge” into the Halifax, Nova Scotia community.
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“I want to be there,” Murray said of balancing parenting and work. “I got to be there for my daughter’s first steps. I got to take her trick or treating for the first time. And she crushed it!”
The actor has previously spoken about the ways becoming a dad has changed him, telling Entertainment Tonight in 2016 that it “just changes your perspective on everything.”
“It was the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me,” Murray continued. “I mean, having kids is just — it’s a game changer. I think you’re always walking around with the mentality that you want to make sure that they’re proud and represent them well. Just be a great leader.”
With his role on SULLIVAN’S CROSSING, it looks like Murray’s prayers were answered!
