Did You Know Chad Michael Murray Almost Played Nathan Scott On One Tree Hill?

"Originally, they asked me to play Nathan because I played Tristan Dugray [on Gilmore Girls], who is a bad boy, and then I went to play Charlie Todd on Dawson's [Creek] who was also the bad boy," Chad Michael Murray says during a Liverpool Comic Con panel in 2022. Since Nathan is a bad boy at the beginning of One Tree Hill, Chad's work on those other shows made him seem like a perfect fit for the role.

"When I read the scripts, I just wrote, 'This show has legs,' which means I feel like it can go a long time, it can go the distance," he continues. Type casting is a very real thing in the entertainment industry, and Chad wanted to do something different — especially if the show did end up lasting for a long time (spoiler: it went on for nine seasons!). "And thus Lucas was the choice for me. And so it was a moment where I think I made a career decision and I put my foot down and I just said, 'Guys, I really wanna play Lucas. Like, this is the character.'"

While Lucas isn't as much of a traditional bad boy as Nathan is at the beginning, both characters are rough around the edges in different ways. They really do complement each other! However, if you're someone who likes the idea of Chad Michael Murray as Nathan Scott, you can get a glimpse of that alternate reality by watching Season 2, Episode 20 — Nathan dreams about what life would have been like if his life been switched with Lucas'!

Later on in the panel, when asked whether he prefers playing the villain, Chad Michael Murray admits it's easier for him than playing any kind of heroic, romantic lead. "The villain is always more fun because there's less boundaries," he says. "When you are the moral compass or a particular archetype, you have these boundaries, these walls, around you that you can't go outside of, you know? Be it the way you articulate, the way you send a message, your mannerisms...Playing the leading man is much more difficult for me than being an insane person. I don't know why I identify with the insanity — it just comes naturally!"