Chad Michael Murray Brings Back Story of Helping Lindsay Lohan Before First On-Screen Kiss originally appeared on Parade.
A lot has changed between Chad Michael Murray, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan since their days filming Freaky Friday almost 22 years ago.
The three are starring in the sequel to the iconic 2003 film, Freakier Friday, which was released on Friday in theaters. The new movie picks up years after Tess (Curtis) and Anna (Lohan) endured an identity crisis. Anna now has a daughter of her own and a soon-to-be stepdaughter. As they navigate the many challenges that come when two families merge, Tess and Anna discover that lightning might indeed strike twice.
Murray’s character, Jake, is dragged into the plot of the sequel by Anna’s daughter, Harper (Julia Butters), and stepdaughter, Lily (Sophia Hammons), who are trying to prevent Anna’s wedding. They hope to reunite Jake and Anna by exploiting the body-swapping situation.
In a Q&A with The New York Times published on Friday, Murray was asked about his friendship and on-screen chemistry with Curtis, and the details of his first on-screen kiss with Lohan for the 2003 movie.
Ashley Spencer, thejournalist who interviewed Murray, brought up the fact that Curtis kissed him in a trailer to make Lohan more comfortable about her first on-screen kiss while filming Freaky Friday.
The 43-year-old actor first told this story to Entertainment Tonight six years ago. At the time, Lohan was just 16 years old and was nervous because she had never been kissed before, while Murray was 21. Curtis brought Murray into a trailer on the set of Freaky Friday and gave him a big kiss, then said, “Boom. See, it’s easy!” At the time, Curtis was 44.
“There was so much pressure on Lindsay, and her nerves were through the roof. Ultimately, Jamie was like, ‘This is becoming too much of a thing,'” then kissed Murray, the One Tree Hill actor recalled. “My head was spinning for a good few weeks in gratitude. She wasn’t being inappropriate. She was just trying to make Lindsay feel comfortable, and she and I had a very playful banter already set up.”
Murray also mentioned how “kind and so gracious” Curtis was during the interview, and she helped him “keep [his] head above water” when he was first starting in Hollywood.
Murray rose to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s with roles in popular teen dramas and films. He gained widespread recognition as Tristan DuGrey in Gilmore Girls and Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill. After Freaky Friday, he appeared in A Cinderella Story and House of Wax. Murray later starred in series such as Agent Carter, Sun Records and Riverdale, and stars as Cal Jones in the CW series Sullivan’s Crossing.
Freakier Friday is out now in theaters.
Related: Iconic Song From 2003 Movie Gets Brand New Version
Chad Michael Murray Brings Back Story of Helping Lindsay Lohan Before First On-Screen Kiss first appeared on Parade on Aug 8, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
