He’s not heading back to North Carolina.
Chad Michael Murray has broken his silence about the upcoming “One Tree Hill” reboot.
Murray, 43, told The Los Angeles Times, “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 was referring to himself and James Lafferty, who co-starred in the show as his half-brother, Nathan Scott.
“One Tree Hill” aired for nine seasons from 2003 to 2012 on The WB, which then turned into The CW.
The show followed teens in the fictional town of Tree Hill, North Carolina. In addition to Murray and Lafferty, it starred Sophia Bush (Murray’s real life ex-wife, as they were married from 2005 to 2006), Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz.
Murray and Bush got married in 2005, when he was 23 and she was 22 — and they got divorced later that same year. In early 2006, Bush filed for an annulment, citing fraud, but her request was denied. Their divorce was finalized in December 2006.
In August, sources revealed to Variety that the early 2000s teen drama is getting a reboot on Netflix. The insiders said the sequel series was already in the works, with Bush, Burton and Danneel Ackles producing the project. Ackle’s husband, “Supernatural” star Jensen Ackles, will also produce.
Bush and Burton, both 42, are allegedly reprising their roles as Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer, respectively.
The news wasn’t met with mass enthusiasm. Fans noted that a sequel series only makes sense with the entire core group involved. Others brought up cast feuds and all the alleged behind-the-scenes tension with “One Tree Hill” creator Mark Schwahn, which Bush, Burton and Lenz exposed on the “Drama Queens” podcast. They shared a story about him allegedly threatening two of them into posing for Maxim against their will.
Schwahn will not be involved in the reboot.
Murray didn’t say why he was not invited to participate on the show, but his divorce from Bush was bitter, and there have been rumors that he and Bush can’t work together.
But, Murray said about the reboot, “I want it for the fans.”
“This experience that I’ve gotten like the privilege of being able to experience over the course of the last 24 years is incredible,” he previously told E! News. “And so for each and every person that grew up on this show and it affected them and it changed their heart just a little bit and their mind and just set the tone for their youth, I hope it happens.”
Most recently, Murray played a male stripper in the Netflix holiday rom com, “The Merry Gentlemen.”
The movie follows Ashley (Britt Robertson), a Broadway dancer who stages a male stripper Christmas-themed show, in order to save her parents’ small town night club – led by Luke (Murray).
“I saw the opportunity to do something that I’d never seen done before,” he told Elle about the role.
“My wife was scared, though,” he said, referring to Sarah Roemer, 40, who he’s been married to since 2015 and shares three kids with.
“She was like, ‘What are you making and how much of you are we seeing?’”
As it turns out, the film isn’t that racy, and he’s only shown shirtless. But, he told the outlet, “Our original outfits were spandex and far smaller—like little mankinis.”
Murray told Variety that the amount of skin shown in the film is “not gratuitous.”
“We threaded the needle on that film. You go too far and you’re making one movie; you go too under, and it doesn’t work at all,” he said.
The “Freaky Friday” star added, “It’s in the perfect space where people won’t feel wrong having it on the TV in the background. It’s the sweet spot and I’m really proud of that.”
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