For anybody growing up in the aughts, Chad Michael Murray was the epitome of a teenage dream. Known best for navigating some complicated family dynamics on and off the basketball court as Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill, Murray actually played a few different heartthrobs before becoming a familiar face to Hallmark Christmas Movie fans. Certainly everybody’s got a favorite, but what does the actor think? Murray recently played a game of Kiss, Marry, Kill with a few of his most famous roles, and let’s just say things didn’t go so well for his Gilmore Girls character.
During an interview with the Canadian network CTV, Chad Michael Murray was asked to kiss, marry and kill one of his 2000s-era characters, choosing between Lucas Scott (of course), Tristan Dugray from Gilmore Girls and Austin Ames from A Cinderella Story. He started off with the first option, saying:
Austin Ames, you gotta kiss that guy. He’s the guy you want to kiss, right? It’s gotta be. Especially in the rain.
He’s spot-on here. Austin from A Cinderella Story is a literal Prince Charming. Of course we want to kiss the prince, and possibly attend the same Ivy League college as him. But while we will lock lips with this character — in the rain? yes please — we do not need to devote our entire life to Austin Ames, which leads to Chad Michael Murray’s next selection:
If you’re going to marry someone, Lucas Scott. Moral compass, come on. He’s my ride or die.
Again, this is 100% the right choice. I love Chad Michael Murray calling his One Tree Hill character his ride or die. Lucas Scott is a man who has faced more than his share of adversity. He had a strong father figure in his uncle Keith (oh, Keith), while simultaneously learning how NOT to act from his father Dan. Having Lucas as a husband would mean inheriting a great brother- and sister-in-law in Nathan and Haley, and you’d get Karen as your mother-in-law?! Keep your castle, Cinderella, this is the family I’m marrying into.
That just leaves one obvious choice for CMM’s final pick. He concluded:
And if you’re going to kill someone, sadly, it’s Tristan Dugray. Now, it’s not my choice. These are the options I was given. He had to die. I didn’t do it. So I love you Tristan, but early departure for you.
Don’t shoot the messenger; Chad Michael Murray was just playing the game. Even if the first two answers hadn’t been so perfect, I’d still say this was the obvious option for Gilmore Girls’ Tristan. The actor appeared in only 11 episodes of the Stars Hallow dramedy and opted not to return for Netflix’s revival, forcing Tristan to be recast in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. And besides, when it comes to guys who pursued Rory, there are only three names that matter: Dean, Jess and Logan.
I’m sure this was a fun look back for Chad Michael Murray. You can check out his full responses on the TikTok video below:
@ctv
♬ original sound – ctv
If you also want to relive Chad Michael Murray’s heartthrob days of decades past, Gilmore Girls is one of the best dramedies available to watch with a Netflix subscription; One Tree Hill is available with a Hulu subscription or to HBO Max subscription holders; and A Cinderella Story can be rented or purchased from several services, including Amazon and Apple TV.