Since leaving One Tree Hill, Chad Michael Murray seems to have dropped off the face of the planet. He went from being an in-demand heart-throb to a TV movie actor. In honor of his new ABC Family movie, Christmas Cupid, co-starring Christina Milian, we look at five acting gigs that track the rise and fall of his career.
5. Gilmore Girls (2000-2001)
The young actor started out as a bad boy on the WB show. He was Rory Gilmore’s (Alexis Bledel) guilty crush, Tristin Dugray. Coincidentally, after his stint, he went on to another, more popular show, Dawson’s Creek (2001-2002).
4. Freaky Friday (2003)
Murray then went on to star with a series of Disney starlets, starting with Lindsay Lohan. Co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Mark Harmon, he played Lohan’s love interest.
3. A Cinderella Story (2004)
The very next year, he starred with Lohan’s then rival, Hillary Duff. He played the football star who falls madly in love with a girl he met on the Internet. Can he overcome high school stereotypes to live happily ever after with his Cinderella? The answer is, of course, yes.
2. One Tree Hill (2003-2009)
The WB, then The CW, show gave Murray his big break. He played Lucas Scott, the brooding high school outsider. His half brother, the popular basketball jock, hates him. Then the two end up on the same basketball team. The rest is history.
1. House of Wax (2005)
Around the same time that One Tree Hill started to go downhill, Murray made the worst mistake in his career: co-starring with Paris Hilton. He hasn’t had a good role since...
Maybe Murray can pull himself out of this rut with the upcoming horror flick The Haunting in Georgia, or maybe it will just dig him in deeper...bet on the second option.