Chad Michael Murray admitted he wanted to disappear after starring in One Tree Hill and experiencing skyrocketing fame. Speaking to Interview magazine, Murray admitted that he “one hundred percent” wanted to quit acting after the show. “There was a moment when I was giving up on it. My work is done. I can’t do it anymore,” he said in the article published Wednesday, Dec. 11.
However, the reason for his leaving was not the number of fans; This was because he wanted to protect his formidable years. “When you’re 18 to 25, in these difficult years when you’re really exposed to life experiences and your brain is not fully developed, you make mistakes,” he said.
The Freaky Friday star believed that he was not adult enough to understand the scenarios he was in. Murray was 21 during the sitcom’s first season, which spanned nine successful seasons. At the time, the actor admitted that he was struggling to live a normal life and there was too much public attention on his every move.
“It was hard for me because there are so many eyes on you. You go to the grocery store, and someone points at you, ‘Oh, that’s the guy on the tabloid,’ or ‘That’s the guy that did that,'” he said, according to Page Six.
Murray admitted that this caused him to go into a negative state and he eventually decided to lay low and walk away forever. “I made a big pivot at that point in my life and said, ‘You know what? ‘This is not what I want,'” he recalled.
Apart from moving on with his life, the actor also had to manage his relationship with One Tree Hill co-star Sophia Bush amid his rising fame. The couple got married in 2005 when they were both 23 years old and broke up after five months of marriage.
Ten years later, Murray married his now-wife Sarah Romer and they have three children: a 9-year-old son, a 6-year-old daughter, and another daughter in August 2023. “My goal in life is just to be a great father, a great husband,” the actor said. Although he loves being an actor, the real “ground level” for him comes from being a family man.
