Chad Murray looks back on his early fame and the lessons he learned.
In a recent conversation on the Like A Farmer podcast, the 44-year-old actor spoke candidly about his acting days in the 2000s and expressed gratitude for the difficult experiences.
When host Pat Spinoza called Murray “that guy” in the early 2000s, it prompted the actor to acknowledge that success at a young age comes at its own cost.
For the unversed, Murray became a household name with the hit teen drama The One Tree Hill, following his famous roles in Gilmore Girls and Dawson’s Creek.
“You never know when you’re in it. And I think if you did, it would be a problem,” Murray told the host. “If you know you’re the man and you’re living in the present moment, that’s probably a problem because you’re inflating your ego to a certain degree, right?”
While thinking, Murray said he would “do it again.”
“I wouldn’t change a thing…and the only reason I’m saying that is because I wouldn’t have my wife and my kids. I wouldn’t be where I am. I probably wouldn’t have re-found God. I probably wouldn’t have felt the gratitude I do to go to work on a daily basis.”
Murray also said there was “no book” on how to deal with fame, recalling the days after he moved to Los Angeles in 1999 and landed successful roles.
“I grabbed the bull by the horns and said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go and have some fun.’ And we did it. We had a lot of fun,” he said.
Murray went on to say, “Do I look back and have a lot of regret? Of course. What a crazy time.”
“I’m very grateful that there are no camera phones,” he added.
Murray concluded by admitting that his mistakes were true teachers, “because if I was going to keep winning, I think I probably would have destroyed myself. I think God was saying, ‘Okay, let’s back off.’ Let’s lower the cart. Like, ‘You have to be a little humble.’ I’m grateful for that, man.