Chad Michael Murray has said he has turned down “plenty” of roles over the last 22 years that are not compatible with his religious beliefs.
The actor, 40, is a practising Christian, and he said in a recent interview: “I get up every day and I put that spiritual armour on, read the Bible and do some devotionals and then get ready to go to work.”
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Murray said: “I stick to the things I believe in. Let’s just say a piece of material were to come across my desk, which has happened plenty of times over the last 22 years, that I don’t necessarily feel is what I believe or what I’m selling – then that’s not for me.”
He added: “I don’t want to step in something that I don’t believe in any way because it’s going to destroy it for everybody else involved.
“If you don’t fully love and embrace the character that you are inhabiting, it will show on screen. I always want to give the people that I’m working with and the people who are going to watch the movie, the most of me.”
He said he feels “stronger and safer walking onto my sets every day knowing that I have God with me every day”, adding: “Jesus is there with me every day.”
Murray continued: “When you have that comfort that you just feel safe, you feel different, you feel the opportunity to handle more, your shoulders are bigger, you can carry more weight.”
In a previous interview, Murray said his family pray at every meal, adding: “That’s one of the foundations of teaching a good moral compass in our children. Having the fear of God is vital because to be honest what do you have to lose if you have no fear of that.
“If you have no fear of God it would be chaos here.”
Murray has two children with his wife, the actor Sarah Roemer.
He is known for starring in noughties hits Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill and A Cinderella Story, and can currently be seen alongside Bruce Willis in Fortress: Sniper’s Eye.
The action cyber-thriller is out now on digital and VOD platforms.
