If the newly released photos from his new holiday movie prove anything, it’s that Chad Michael Murray hasn’t lost any of his early 2000s heartthrob appeal. The actor strips down to his jeans and cowboy hat in the promotional material for his upcoming Netflix film, The Merry Gentlemen. Fans of One Tree Hill, the CW series in which the actor played Lucas Scott, will probably be thrilled to see their fave back in a starring role.
Murray opened up about the challenges that came with the role while speaking to People, saying that it was an opportunity to try something new even if it scared him a little: “When I see something and it scares the crap out of me, something in me says, ‘Alright, well, let’s see what we can do. I’m going to fall flat on my face or have a lot of fun doing it,'” he explained. “So that was what really pulled me in.”
Murray admitted to having no formal dance training when The Merry Gentlemen came along. “I’d never danced professionally or trained by any means,” he told the publication. “I love going out and dancing. My wife [Sarah Roemer] and I have danced at a wedding or two, and we dance on occasion, and we goof around at the house, but nothing to this level.”
The Merry Gentlemen is directed by Peter Sullivan from a script by Marla Sokoloff. The story follows Ashley (Britt Robertson), a former big-city dancer who heads back home for the holidays and puts together an all-male, Christmas-themed show to save her parents’ small-town theater. “My character decides to take her skill as a dancer and choreographer and marries that with some hot dudes at the bar to make The Merry Gentlemen show. She may or may not save the bar,” Robertson told Tadum.
While fans will have to wait until Nov. 20 to catch Murray and Robertson in their new sizzling Christmas tale, the actor has another Netflix movie out that will give viewers the warm fuzzies. Released in May, Mother of the Bride follows Emma, who returns home after spending a year in London. She immediately shocks her family by announcing her upcoming wedding. Things become complicated when her mom, Lana, realizes that the groom is the son of a man who crushed her heart a long time ago.
Directed by Mark Waters from a script by Robin Bernheim, Mother of the Bride stars Brooke Shields as Lana, Miranda Cosgrove as Emma, Benjamin Bratt as Will, Rachael Harris as Janice, Sean Teale as RJ, Chad Michael McDonald as Clay, Wilson Cruz as Scott, Tasneem Roc as Camala, and Dalip Sondhi as Harle. While this movie may not have the same hotness appeal as The Merry Gentlemen, it is super fun. Murray can also be seen as Cal Jones in the Canadian drama series Sullivan’s Crossing.
