Chad Michael Murray, born on August 24, 1981, is an American actor, writer, and model who has captured the hearts of audiences for two decades. Best known for his roles in iconic 2000s TV shows like One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls, Murray has remained a favorite among teen drama fans.
The child prodigy who ended up branded as “Hollywood’s bad boy,” trapped in a self-destructive spiral of addictions and legal troubles, and herself a victim of the era’s relentless scrutiny, has managed to restore her image.
But the comedy doesn’t only herald her comeback. Another millennial icon, nearly as dazzling and just as sidelined as Lohan herself, joins her in this particular rebirth: Chad Michael Murray.
With his charming demeanor, Murray became a defining face of an era. But what about Chad Michael Murray's wife and family life? Married to actress Sarah Roemer since September 2014, the famous couple recently celebrated their 10th anniversary.
Despite their high-profile careers, with one of Murray's latest films, Mother of the Bride, having premiered in May 2024, the couple prioritize their family time.
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"It was the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. I mean, having kids is just, it's a game changer," Murray shared with Entertainment Tonight. "I think you're always walking around with the mentality that you want to make sure that they're proud and represent them well.
While they tend to keep their personal lives away from the public eye (much like Murray's former One Tree Hill co-star, James Lafferty and his wife Alexandra Park), the couple do occasionally share glimpses of their life together. Chad Michael Murray is married to Sarah Roemer. Chad Michael Murray and Sarah Roemer share three children together.
At just 30 years old, and after the end of his last major project, the series One Tree Hill, Murray nearly walked away from acting. “There was a moment where I was quitting. I was done. I just couldn’t do it anymore,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in late 2024.
He decided to change his life, went to therapy, and returned to his Catholic faith - the same faith he had leaned on when his mother left his father and five siblings when he was just 10 years old. The family barely made it to the end of the month, and he had to start working to bring some money home, but every Sunday he served as an altar boy at his neighborhood church.
“Putting God and my family first,” he says, has helped him out of the “bad situations” that surrounded his daily life.
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Early Life and Career Beginnings
A native of Buffalo, New York, at age 15 he was hospitalized for months due to twisted intestines that, as he has recounted, caused him to lose half the blood in his body. His condition was so critical that his family even contacted a priest to discuss last rites. He pulled through, and one of the nurses who cared for him - an aspiring model herself - encouraged him to get in touch with her agent once he recovered.
“I was hospitalized for two and a half months,” he shared. “It was a lot. We had surgery. I had internal bleeding, I lost 50% of my blood. “I just remember seeing my father, the weakest I’d ever seen him, and a priest at the end of my bed, and they’re talking about last rites and all that stuff and gave me a blood transfusion to save my life.
“Alana says to me, ‘Oh gosh, you should model,’” Murray recalled. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to model. I want to be an actor. Like, I love film and television. I want to give this gift to other people.’ And she’s like, ‘Well, you can segue from modeling into acting. But Murray had to recover first.
“I got out. I went from, like, 180 to 118 pounds,” he said. “I was a skeleton when I got out, it was the scariest thing ever. I remember looking in the mirror the first time going, ‘Who is that?’ Like, I cried.
He tried his hand at modeling and worked for brands such as Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger, but his ambition lay elsewhere. At 18, he moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning as an actor, and just a few months later he was appearing in Gilmore Girls, one of television’s highest-rated shows.
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In 2000, he guest starred as Dan on the MTV drama anthology series Undressed on the episode "Scared Stiffy" which aired on March 8 as part of its second season. Later that year, Murray was cast in the role of rich kid Tristin DuGray on The WB television series Gilmore Girls as a recurring character in the first season which debuted on October 5 and in an episode of the second season the next year.
In 2003, Murray began the year appearing in the family drama television film A Long Way Home, also known as Aftermath, playing the role of Sean in a family trying to reconcile following domestic sexual abuse. He next played the lead role of Luke Hartman on The WB's western television film The Lone Ranger which aired on February 26 and served as a backdoor pilot for a potential series run.
Murray was cast in the role of love-interest Jake in the Walt Disney Pictures comedy film Freaky Friday, starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, which released in theaters on August 6. Later that year, he was cast in the lead role of Lucas Scott on The WB series One Tree Hill which debuted on September 23, 2003. The series earned Murray six Teen Choice Award nominations over the years, including winning Choice TV - Breakout Actor in August 2004 and Choice TV Actor - Drama in August 2008.
In 2004, Murray starred as Austin Ames in the romantic comedy film A Cinderella Story alongside Hilary Duff which released in July 16. He is the first person to win their awards for Breakout Actor in both the TV and Movie categories in the same year. He next co-starred as Nick Jones in the horror film House of Wax which released theatrically on May 6, 2005. Murray was listed as one of "Fall TV's Sexiest Guys" by People magazine in September 2005, and was the cover model for Teen People magazine that same month.
In May 2009, it was reported that Murray would not be returning to One Tree Hill for its seventh season. In 2010, Murray played the love-interest of Alicia Keys in her music video for "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" which premiered on BET's 106 & Park on May 12. On August 29, 2011, The CW announced that Murray would return for a guest appearance as Lucas Scott in the final season of One Tree Hill. The episode aired on February 22, 2012, as part of the concluding ninth season.
On October 9, 2013, it was reported that Murray was cast to join action-thriller series Chosen on Crackle. He played the lead role of Jacob Orr in the second season which premiered on December 12 that year and in the third season which released on April 15, 2014. Murray next co-starred in the apocalyptic thriller film Left Behind, playing the role of Cameron "Buck" Williams, alongside Nicolas Cage and Jordin Sparks.
Later in 2015, he guest starred on the Fox black comedy series Scream Queens on a November 24 episode during its first season, playing Chad Radwell's older brother Brad. In 2018, he played the male lead Brett Beauchamps in the drama television film The Beach House, alongside Minka Kelly and Andie MacDowell, which premiered on the Hallmark Channel on April 28.
In 2021, he starred as Joel Sheehan in the film Colors of Love which received a limited theatrical release on February 4, before premiering on GAC Family on October 23 under the title An Autumn Romance as its first original movie. He starred as Brody Bradshaw in the television film Sand Dollar Cove which premiered on the Hallmark Channel on June 26. He starred as Gabe on the television film Angel Falls Christmas which premiered on GAC Family on November 26, marking the third film between Murray and Lowndes. He starred as Kevin Vaughn on the television film Toying with the Holidays which premiered on Lifetime on December 18.
Murray authored a graphic novel, Everlast, which released in November 2011. In November 2017, he released American Drifter: An Exhilarating Tale of Love and Murder, which he co-authored with novelist Heather Graham.
Today, far from shying away from fans, the actor embraces the nostalgia for his work and says he’s delighted that people still stop him on the street for roles he played more than 15 years ago. “I love my job and I love meeting people. I’m the first guy to say, ‘Yeah, let’s take a photo.’ We’re spreading joy and happiness everywhere we go. That’s what it’s about for me. I became an actor because I wanted to make people happy,” he told Interview.
Not all of his peers have managed that transition so well: actors like Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Mischa Barton (The O.C.), James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek), or Jennifer Love Hewitt (Ghost Whisperer) have also faced stop-and-go careers after the end of their iconic series. Murray, by contrast, seems comfortable inhabiting that middle ground, where nostalgia becomes a tool rather than a burden. He has also taken the chance to cultivate his writer side, publishing a graphic novel and a thriller.
The success of Freakier Friday and the potential return of One Tree Hill, in a reboot already in the works at Netflix, might put him once again in a prime spot in the collective memory - if not on the covers of school binders, then on plenty of smartphone wallpapers.
Chad Michael Murray at the premiere of "House of Wax" in April 2005
Personal Life and Family
Chad Michael Murray's spouse, Sarah Roemer, was born on August 28, 1984, in San Diego, California. An actress and model, Roemer gained widespread recognition for her role in the 2007 thriller Disturbia, where she starred opposite Shia LaBeouf. Her first big TV role came in 2010 with the series The Event, which she starred in with Jason Ritter. She then went on to star in Chosen as Avery Sharp and appear as a guest star on Hawaii Five-O and Daybreak.
Her most recent role was in the 2021 film Survive the Game, which starred Murray and Bruce Willis.
According to a story by People, Murray and Roemer met in 2013 while filming the Crackle TV series Chosen.
The couple first met on the set of Chosen, when Murray joined the second season. Murray and Roemer got married in September 2014, but have not publicly shared any details about their wedding. They didn't even announce their nuptials until January 2015, when they also shared that they were expecting their first child together.
"I'm a romantic. I'm a family guy. I want that core. I tend to keep everything quiet. I love my life. That's the part I keep for myself," Murray told E! News.
Murray and Roemer welcomed their first child together, a son whose name has not been shared publicly in 2015. In 2017 they welcomed a daughter into their family. In 2021, Chad Michael Murray and Sarah Roemer adopted a dog named Jett. Chad Michael Murray and Sarah Roemer welcome their third child, another daughter, in 2023. Murray and Roemer celebrated 10 years of marriage together in September 2024.
Murray shared a sweet post on Instagram, honoring this big milestone. "10 years… We've jammed more into this 10 years than I ever could've imagined. It's truly astounding. It's been the best decade of my life by far-sharing each and every moment with you," he said in the caption. "We've grown this little pack together and seen so much of the world as a family. I'm so grateful for you Sarah."
Roemer shared a similar post, writing, "It's been more than I could have ever dreamed of. I love our family with my whole heart and soul. Thank you for the most beautiful 10 years together. You are an incredible husband, father, best friend and so so so much more.
Details about Chad Michael Murray and Sarah Roemer's engagement have been kept private, reflecting their preference for maintaining personal aspects of their relationship away from the public eye.
The couple married in September 2014, though specific details about their wedding ceremony, including the exact date and location, have not been publicly disclosed.
Chad Michael Murray and Sarah Roemer have three children: A son born in 2015, a daughter born in 2017 and another daughter born in 2023.
Despite their careers in the entertainment industry, Murray and Roemer prioritize their family's privacy. While Roemer seems to have taken a break from her on-screen work, Murray has continued starring in various films, including The Merry Gentleman, a holiday movie on Netflix, and Freakier Friday, the Freaky Friday sequel which is slated to come out in August 2025. The couple often travel together for Murray's work commitments, with Roemer homeschooling their children on the road.
Chad Michael Murray and his wife Sarah Roemer.
But the situation overwhelmed him. He stopped smiling on the red carpet because he didn’t like his own smile, felt ashamed of his nose, and suffered panic attacks that kept him from leaving his room. In another promotional interview, earlier this August, he told The New York Times that at the height of his fame he developed agoraphobia, a debilitating disorder characterized by the fear of being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult - or embarrassing. “I’ll be completely honest with you, it’s downright terrible. You haven’t lived enough life to truly understand what any of this means. So, being agoraphobic, being anxiety-ridden, I tried to hide all the insecurity with cool.”
His condition was so critical that his family even contacted a priest to discuss last rites. That experience set him on course to become an actor, and his career includes projects like ONE TREE HILL and FREAKY FRIDAY. Murray is also a husband and father to three children, whose names he keeps private.
“We watched the first one right before I started filming, so I could say, ‘Hey guys, this is what Daddy’s going to do. This is a story that I’m going to go tell,’” he explained. “And I just remembered them laughing so hard at the movie and saying, ‘Daddy, what are you doing? Why are you doing that?
Is there still time for him to get back on the path he lost? He believes so: “I truly feel like I’m just getting started,” he told the Los Angeles Times last November, when he premiered the holiday-flavored Netflix film The Merry Gentlemen.
“I love being an actor, but at the end of the day, the real grassroots thing for me was being a family man,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. He gushes about coaching his eldest son’s football team, taking his middle daughter to dance classes, and having the whole family accompany him on every shoot, even when they have to move to Canada for half a year to film Sullivan’s Crossing, the soap-style drama that has filled his schedule for the past five years. How did he land the role? By praying. “It was a very specific, very detailed prayer that I put out every single night,” he said in a conversation with People magazine published last week.
Murray’s story is an example of how God can take a tragic situation and make something beautiful.
Chad Michael Murray Shares Nostalgic Cast Memories from ‘Gilmore Girls,’ ‘One Tree Hill’ & More
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