Chad Michael Murray Has Some Harsh Advice For His Characters In Freaky Friday And A Cinderella Story, And I Totally Agree With Him

Chad Michael Murray as Jake in Freaky Friday.
(Image credit: Disney)

Freaky Friday and A Cinderella Story might be some of the best movies of the 2000s, and Chad Michael Murray played swoon-worthy love interests in both. However, there’s no doubt that his characters weren’t the sharpest, especially when it came to their interactions with the women in these movies. Turns out, the One Tree Hill star is also aware of this fact, and he shared some harsh and blunt advice for Austin and Jake, and I must admit, I totally agree with him. 

How Chad Michael Murray Feels About His Character’s Choices In Freaky Friday

We’ve seen our fair share of love triangles that include two brothers and one woman, however, in Freaky Friday that triangle took it up a notch as Chad Michael Murray’s Jake pursued a mother and then her daughter…which as the actor said is a bit “weird.” He told E! News

If you have a crush on your classmate's mom, act on it, and then get rejected, don't start dating her daughter as sloppy seconds. As if it wasn't weird enough already.

When Jake falls for Anna when she’s in her mom’s body, and then he decides to crush on Anna once she’s back in her own body there's no denying that it's odd. At no point is he aware of the body-swapping situation, as far as he’s concerned, he was into Jamie Lee Curtis' character and then Lindsay Lohan's. 

While the body-switching comedy has a funky premise to begin with, having the love interest pursue both women makes it a bit weirder, and Murray agrees. We know Freaky Friday 2 is on its way, so whenever it comes out, I’m curious to see if Jake and Anna are still together or if he still has a thing for her mom.  

A screenshot of Chad Michael Murray as Austin in A Cinderella Story.

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Chad Michael Murray Shares His Blunt Thoughts About His A Cinderella Story Character

A Cinderella Story might be one of the best Cinderella movies, however, there’s no denying how silly it is that Chad Michael Murray’s Austin can’t recognize Hilary Duff’s Sam after the masquerade ball. Much like how everyone can’t figure out that Clark Kent is Superman, the same can be said for Sam. Curling her hair and wearing a very small mask that just covered her eyes apparently made her so unrecognizable that no one knew it was her until the very end. Murray has some thoughts on this, and how his character acted in the movie; he said: 

And if you go to a masquerade ball, and a girl you see almost every day is wearing a small mask and her entire face is exposed, but you still can't recognize her you should probably see an eye doctor among a few other doctors.

He probably does need glasses; I’m with Chad Michael Murray on that one. While Austin is very cute and kissable, he really should have recognized Sam, it’s not that hard. On top of that, he was also kind of rude to her, and he acted poorly. While his inability to recognize Sam is a crucial part of a story about Cinderella, it’s completely unreasonable that he didn’t realize it was her under that mask. 

Now, while Chad Michael Murray’s characters in these two movies make some odd choices and maybe aren’t the most logical, A Cinderella Story and Freaky Friday are still A+ films. Honestly, the actor recognizing these silly flaws about the guys he played, and giving them advice makes them even better.

If you want to stream Freaky Friday, you can do so with a Disney+ subscription, as for A Cinderella Story, you can rent it on Amazon

Riley Utley
Weekend Editor

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.