Chad Michael Murray's Hobby During His 'One Tree Hill Days' Will Blow You Away

Chad Michael Murray stole every millennial's heart in the early 2000s with his teen heartthrob roles as Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill and Austin Ames in A Cinderella Story. But the things that he was up to when filming OTH might have had you running for the hills rather than straight into his arms. Chad Michael Murray had an explosive hobby during his One Tree Hill days, and it will make you see the Riverdale actor in a brand new light.

During a new interview on E!’s Daily Pop, the actor revealed that during his downtime on the set of One Tree Hill, he would buy fireworks and literally blow things up for fun. “This is what you do when you’re 21 years old and you got more money than brain at the time,” he remarked. The actor, who starred on OTH from 2003 to 2009, continued:

“We’d go over the border to South Carolina and we’d buy fireworks, and for every holiday, we would blow something up. So we would fill a pumpkin, carve the pumpkin, and then light a wick and watch it go. We’d spend hours decorating Christmas trees with ‘ornaments’ and then blow it the hell up. The best one was a turkey… We stuffed the turkey and we blew it up, but it smelled really good afterwards to the point where everyone was like, ‘I kind of want to try it’. We didn’t.”

Fortunately, Murray was forced to end his schemes for the sake of everyone’s safety. “Eventually, the producers of One Tree Hill caught on and put an end to that,” he explained. “They didn’t want us blowing off a finger or other stupid things. Those days are over, glad I lived them, glad we got through them and we still have all of our appendages.” We don’t want to live in a world where any part of him was ruined, so it was a good call on their part.

Now, a decade later, Murray can dig into his rebellious side with his role on Riverdale. The actor plays cult leader Edgar Evernever on the hit CW series, a far cry from the clean-cut and dreamy characters he used to portray. “It’s on the list of those things as an actor, [if asked], ‘Do you want to play a cult leader?’ the answer is always, 'Yes, we’re in. What are you selling? I don’t care, I’m in'," Murray said on the Daily Pop, laughing. And he has nothing but praise for the everyone on the show. "It’s been a dream job. I love the cast, the crew, everyone is just such pros. So much kindness, so much love is on that set.”

Being on another teen show, but as a grown adult, is a full circle experience for the actor, one that he may not have had if it weren't for the influence of his wife Sarah Roemer. “For me, the wife is actually the one that pushed me in this direction," Murray said. "She’s an avid Riverdale fan, and she said, ‘You’re doing it, and that’s the last we’re going to talk about it,’ and I’m so grateful I did. I’m just having a killer time.”

It's nice to hear that Murray is enjoying his second act at the CW, and even better to know that he's put his firework hobby behind him.