Chad Michael Murray has opened up about a life-threatening health scare at age 15 that inadvertently set him on the path to acting. The star of One Tree Hill and Gilmore Girls detailed the ordeal on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast.
Murray was hospitalised for two and a half months after suffering from twisted intestines, which led to internal bleeding. “I lost 50% of my blood. I was on my deathbed,” he recalled, adding that he was “in and out of consciousness” and saw a priest at the foot of his bed discussing last rites. A nurse named Sandy gave him a blood transfusion that saved his life.
During his recovery, another nurse, Alana, suggested he try modelling. Murray told her he wanted to be an actor, and she promised to connect him with a modelling agency. After leaving hospital weighing just 118 pounds, down from 180, he looked in the mirror and cried, not recognising himself.
The experience deepened his relationship with God and brought him closer to his father. The modelling company later paid for him to attend a convention in Orlando, where a chance acting competition led to his move to Los Angeles and securing an agent. Murray currently stars in Freakier Friday, the sequel to the 2003 body-swap comedy, which debuted in cinemas on August 8.
