Chad Michael Murray fell in love with dance on ‘The Merry Gentlemen’

New York —  Chad Michael Murray is currently deep in thought. With his index finger firmly pressed against his chiseled jawline, he’s trying to determine exactly how many times he’s shirtless in “The Merry Gentlemen.” He can’t figure it out — it’s at least nine by my count — but he’s sure it needs to be a game.

“Every time Chad loses his shirt, have a sip of wine, beer or eat a cookie,” he laughs over Zoom, as one hand brushes his golden strands behind his ear.

Lounging behind a desk at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Murray — who now rocks a bit of scruff with a hint of gray — is still nearly identical to his past alter-egos, like the charming protagonist Lucas Scott in “One Tree Hill” and Chilton bad-boy Tristan Dugray in “Gilmore Girls.” Now, 43, he has a bit of a rugged edge — something that is serving him well in his latest role in the “Magic Mike”-meets-mistletoe flick “The Merry Gentlemen.”

In the Netflix movie, which premieres Wednesday, a dancer named Ashley (Britt Robertson) returns to her hometown and tries to save her parents’ nightclub by starting a holiday-themed male revue. Murray takes on the role of Luke, a contractor-turned-entertainer who serves as Ashley’s romantic interest.

“When you say Christmas, the first thing that typically comes to your mind isn’t strippers,” he quips.

Murray wasn’t worried about baring his abs for the film — it was the dancing that terrified him. He admits he may have even “peeked” at “Magic Mike” to prep for the role. “It’s not that I don’t dance,” he clarifies, “I do, but at home and at weddings.”

But for the role of Luke, he got an expedited education. For six hours a day, up to four days a week, Murray worked his way through country western, hip-hop and jazz. Dancing 12 hours a day, half-naked in front of a crew was unexpectedly a “dopamine hit” for him. But no one is more surprised than Murray that he fell in love with dance.

When it came to “The Merry Gentlemen,” it was no coincidence that Murray’s character was called Luke, a name shared by several of his previous characters, including in “Mother of the Bride” earlier this year. “When we got to the table on this one, I think his name was Bob or something, and he didn’t feel like a Bob,” he says. He provided three names — one was Luke. Along the way, Murray, who is a practicing Christian, discovered the name Luke means “light.”

“It just felt kismet,” he says with a gravelly lilt. “That’s one of my main goals as an actor, to bring light to people’s life, enjoyment and entertainment, a departure, an escape from the mundane realities of day-to-day life.”

“That’s one of my main goals as an actor, to bring light to people’s life, enjoyment and entertainment, a departure, an escape from the mundane realities of day-to-day life,” Murray says.

(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)

That desire for escapism has been Murray’s driving force since childhood. The actor grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., with five siblings and was largely raised by his father. He says the family lived paycheck to paycheck or “sometimes worse.” For Murray and his siblings, TV became an escape.

“When I was 6, 7, 8 years old, I used to dress up as Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills during the halftime shows,” he recalls. “I’d dress up in my old Buff helmet and my Jim Kelly jersey, and I’d do commentating like I was doing a mid-game interview.” That sparked his interest in television and film.

At age 15, Murray was hospitalized for more than two months after his intestines twisted and he required an emergency resection that resulted in post-operative internal bleeding. While recovering, he realized what he wanted to do with his life. His nurse, who was a model, suggested he get into modeling. Murray, however, wanted to be an actor.

“She said, ‘Well, you can segue into acting [by starting out as] a model. You can do this. You’re getting out of this bed. I’m going to set you up as soon as you get out of here,’” he says, pausing for a moment. “And she kept her word.”

Murray says that moment changed everything. When he was 18, he attended a modeling convention, met an agent who encouraged him to relocate to Los Angeles and began modeling for brands like Skechers, Tommy Hilfiger and Gucci.

By 2000, he had nabbed a recurring role on “Gilmore Girls” as Tristan — until his character was shipped off to military school in North Carolina during Season 2. “They had asked me to stay and to become a regular at the end of Season 1, and I was young and I wanted the opportunity to kind of have my own thing,” Murray says. Shortly after, he landed a recurring part on “Dawson’s Creek” as womanizer Charlie Todd, who dates Jen Lindley (Michelle Williams).

Three years after his first stint on the WB, he landed the lead role of Lucas Scott in the soapy teen drama “One Tree Hill.” During his time on the show, he married co-star Sophia Bush, but the couple divorced after just five months in 2006. While starring in “One Tree Hill,” he landed two other pivotal roles — one in “Freaky Friday,” as Jake, the motorcycle-riding, Britney Spears-singing crush of Lindsay Lohan’s Anna, and as star quarterback Austin Ames in “A Cinderella Story,” opposite Hilary Duff.

Murray landed his first lead TV role on the WB’s “One Tree Hill,” playing Lucas Scott in the teen drama.

(Fred Norris / The CW)

As Murray recalls, he was responsible for a pivotal plot change in “A Cinderella Story” involving Austin’s football team, the North Valley Frogs. “They were going to lose, and I wouldn’t have it, so I said, ‘Guys, look, he’s a stand-up human being. And I understand that he’s in love, [but] he’d give the ball to his best friend, Jake,’” he says.

With those roles, Murray catapulted into a star, a heartthrob with a capital H. He became a fixture of the tabloids and every teen girl’s crush, with his winning smile, bad-boy charm and tattoos. But Murray admits he didn’t handle the spotlight well.

“There’s no playbook,” he says, “or at least there wasn’t then.” Murray adds that he didn’t know how to say “no” in a healthy way and that he was burning the candle at both ends. The biggest lesson he learned: “What does Chad want to do?” he dryly cackles, before interrupting himself. “Yes, I just spoke in the third person about my past self.”

Today, he doesn’t necessarily want the spotlight. Murray, who shares three kids — a son and two daughters — with wife Sarah Roemer, has different priorities now. “I want to be a dad but still work and service everybody else and help people make a great show so that everybody else can be happy,” he says.

That’s partly what drew him to holiday movies like “The Merry Gentlemen” and Hallmark’s “Write Before Christmas,” “Love in Winterland” and “Road to Christmas.” Murray is hyper-aware of the roles he chooses and how they might affect his family.

“You kind of have to think about what’ll happen if you do Movie A versus Movie B and what your kids will have to go through and the torment they may be put through,” he says, adding that it’s something that he and his wife always discuss in detail. Wherever he or his wife are filming, they travel in a pack. (“They’re here in New York with me right now,” he says.)

His current role in the TV drama “Sullivan’s Crossing,” was, quite literally, the answer to two years of prayers. “I wanted a show where I was not No. 1 on the call sheet,” he says. Now, he can coach his son’s football team, take his daughter to dance and take his kids to school. And for five months out of the year, his family is happily settled in Halifax, Canada, where the show films.

Murray isn’t craving the spotlight as he juggles fatherhood with work, which is why he took a role on the CW’s “Sullivan’s Crossing.” “I wanted a show where I was not No. 1 on the call sheet,” he says.

(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)

Next year, Murray will be seen reprising his character from “Freaky Friday” in the movie’s sequel, “Freakier Friday.” In returning to the role, Murray asked himself, “Where the heck would Jake be?” Despite some prying, he is coy about his character’s place in the narrative and instead stresses how much time has passed between the films. “We’ve had whole lives in between,” he says. “We got kids and grandkids. Jamie [Lee Curtis] got an Academy Award.”

But will he be dusting off his vocal chops for another pop cover like in the first film? He’s not ruling it out. “We will see,” he says. That moment when Jake sings an off-key version of “…Baby One More Time” is “burned into my frontal cortex,” he says. The scene was an idea from director Mark Waters, who wanted Murray to create his own version of John Cusack’s boombox scene in “Say Anything.”

Another project from his past is up in the air. A reboot of “One Tree Hill” is reportedly in the works from series alums Bush, Hilarie Burton and Danneel Ackles. When Murray heard the news, he spoke with James Lafferty, who played his on-screen half brother, Nathan Scott, on the show. “We’re not doing it because no one’s ever picked up the phone and said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this,’ so we’re not doing it,” he says.

But he says they both agreed that bringing “One Tree Hill” back was good. “I want it for the fans,” he says. As if on cue, Lafferty texts Murray while we’re discussing the topic. “Speak of the devil,” he laughs, flashing his iPhone screen at the computer camera for me to see.

But Murray isn’t too concerned about what projects he may or may not do next. He considers himself a laissez-faire guy who believes in the butterfly effect, and with the career path he’s helmed, he’s been able to star in his most fulfilling role — dad. And once his kids are older, he may start taking different parts — maybe a psychological thriller or an indie film. But if someone approached him to star opposite Meryl Streep right now, he’d jump at the opportunity. “I would potentially pee down my leg,” he laughs.

For now, his future is a blur — and that’s OK with him.

“I truly feel like I’m just getting started,” Murray says.