Although actor Chad Michael Murray may appear cool as a cucumber, the “Freakier Friday” star and Hallmark alum says he learned early on to “put on a brave face” even when he’s struggling.
Murray, 43, has decided to open up about his lifelong struggle with anxiety in hopes he might inspire others to seek the help they need. The “Sullivan’s Crossing” star told Newsweek on June 30, 2025, that although he’s found tools and support to help, his condition still paralyzes him at times.
“If you ask me to dinner, no, I’d freak out,” he admitted to Newsweek. “I don’t know why. It’s really hard for me to go to dinner. It’s hard for me to go to new places. I’m a homebody. I’m a total introvert.”
Chad Michael Murray Says He’s Accepted That His Anxiety Disorder is ‘Never Gonna Go Away’
Murray, who did manage to spend July 25 to 27 with some of his former Hallmark colleagues at the Christmas in a Small Town fan convention in Georgia, told Newsweek that he has struggled with anxiety since he was a kid. He went to therapy for the first time at age 21, he said, at a time when it was “not popular or cool,” but that he knew he “needed it.”
“Everyone’s life is messy,” Murray acknowledged, adding, “It always helps to have somebody and have an outlet to talk to, find a different perspective on it, find a new trick that can help you overcome anxiety, fear, health concerns, whatever it may be.”
“It’s never gonna go away,” Murray continued, emphasizing the need for tools and support. “It’s not like you beat it. You just kind of put your head down and you find your way through it.”
In 2024, Murray told The Cut that before he learned how to work through his anxiety, his heartthrob status on shows like “One Tree Hill” and “Gilmore Girls” didn’t help his confidence, noting that he was “far more fragile than I ever put on.”
“I was around 23 and I had an event in Miami, but I couldn’t leave my hotel room,” Murray recalled. “The world felt like it was closing in; I was having anxiety attacks.”
Chad Michael Murray Hopes Talking About His Anxiety Helps Others
Murray reprises his role in the new “Freaky Friday” sequel co-starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, but before they started filming, he revealed to Vulture that he connected with them in years — in part because of his social anxiety.
Though he said that he gave Curtis a hug at one Hollywood event, he told the outlet, “I also secretly saw her at Disneyland. We were on the same train, but I didn’t want to bring any attention to her because she was incognito. I gave her a wink and a nod.”
He added, “I haven’t seen Lindsay in about 15 years. But I’m a homebody and an introvert. I’m not great socially.”
Opening up about living with anxiety has been a conscious decision for Murray, who hopes speaking up will help others.
“Part of me realized that maybe someone else out there could connect with that and say, ‘Oh, I go through that, but he overcame it,” Murray told Newsweek. “If I can help somebody else by telling a story that happened to be my story, OK, awesome, if not, and if someone wants to go ‘what a weirdo,’ OK fine, all good.”
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Chad Michael Murray Vulnerably Reveals He Rarely Goes Out for Dinner Due to Anxiety: ‘It’s Hard’