Chad Michael Murray admits fatherhood changed the roles he takes

Joelle Goldstein, USA TODAYWed, July 1, 2026 at 4:12 PM UTC

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Chad Michael Murray is known to the world as an actor, but at home, he's just dad.

Long before Murray graced TV screens as the rugged-yet-lovable handyman Cal Jones on The CW's "Sullivan's Crossing," he was focused on finding a project that fulfilled him both professionally and personally.

"I prayed for two and a half years, very specifically," Murray, 44, tells USA TODAY in a recent phone interview. "I'm in a place in my life where I do have three young kids. I wanted something where I could still be dad."

"Sullivan's Crossing," initially a CTV show that now streams on Netflix, offered him exactly that. Not only did the series offer Murray a consistent acting role (he has been playing Cal since Season 1 in 2023, and Season 4 dropped on Netflix June 30), but it also shoots in Nova Scotia – near his family's Buffalo home – allowing him to be present for his wife Sarah Roemer and their kids.

"To do something in this current climate where we were in a place that felt like home, we got totally immersed in the community," Murray says. "[It's] a loving, wonderful community. I coach my son's football team out there. My kids go to school up there. We got lifelong friends up there. It's an unbelievable blessing."

"I don't have to work five days a week. I don't have to carry the show," he continues. "It wasn't too gratuitous to the point where my kids were gonna be belittled to a certain degree, going through elementary, middle school. That's a hard time to grow up."

Chad Michael Murray children have him embracing current stage of fatherhood

Though Murray acknowledges "Sullivan's Crossing" changed his life "immensely," he jokes that his kids are less than impressed.

But his two daughters and son – who are 10 and under, but whose names have been kept private – aren't at the stage of watching the show, Murray says, "No, no, no, I think that's still a little too old for them."

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"Currently, I'm in the 'I'm going to pick on dad' stage," he says. "They loved 'Freakier Friday.' My daughter loved 'A Cinderella Story,' so we've got that going."

Chad Michael Murray's kids influence the roles he takes on

Murray's illustrious career has included roles in many iconic films and TV shows. Besides "Freakier Friday" and "A Cinderella Story," he's also known for "One Tree Hill," "Gilmore Girls," "Freaky Friday" and "House of Wax," among others. But these days, he has bigger things to consider when selecting a role.

"The other night, I was watching 'National Treasure,' and then 'The Vampire Lestat' comes on afterwards on AMC. It was one of those shows where I was like, 'Ugh, at a different time in my life, it would've been a show that I would totally dive into,'" Murray says. "But I don't need my kids going to school and the other kids going, 'I saw your dad on that show last night. Wow.' I don't want them hanging with that."

"There were two rather good projects this year that were just, no," he adds. "I finished the script going, 'No. It can't happen. The kids don't need this type of trauma.' And then what if they're like, 'Hey, what are you working on?'"

Another important consideration for Murray? "I'm the kind of guy who takes my work home with me," he says.

"If I do dark material, it hangs on me for a while," he continues. "It took me a month to shake off 'Outlaws and Angels' after I got done filming that movie. And my son was a baby. I remember for a month, I was just weighted."

For Murray, nothing is more important than soaking up the brief time he has with his kids before they grow older.

"I want to be dad that comes home with that light. I want them to remember me that way," he explains. "You only get these kids for such a small period of time in your life. And then we'll transition to the next period where we'll do bizarre, weird, cool things that we feel like, 'Right now, this is awesome.'"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chad Michael Murray's kids, 'Sullivan's Crossing,' changed his career

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