Exclusive: Chad Michael Murray Talks The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia and More
Steve Barton
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Today Tom Elkins’ The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (review) arrives on VOD and in limited theaters. Starring Chad Michael Murray, Katee Sackhoff, Abigail Spencer, and Emily Alyn Lind.
Ghosts of Georgia follows the Wyrick family after they move into a historic Georgian estate only to find out that their not the only residents living on the property and the ethereal habitants are none too happy about their arrival.
Dread Central recently had the chance to catch up with Murray on the phone to discuss his involvement with the sequel and heard more about what attracted him to the role of a young father whose forced to deal with a wife and a daughter who both have very special abilities. Murray also chatted about his experiences meeting the real-life family that Ghosts of Georgia is based on and caught us up on other projects he has on the horizon including Fruitvale which just nabbed a slew of major awards during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
Read on for the highlights from our exclusive interview with Murray and look for The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia now that it’s available on VOD and in limited theaters nationwide.
Dread Central: Can you talk a bit about what attracted you to this project and playing Andy?
Chad Michael Murray: You know, I really liked the script and Tom and also, it was really great to have an opportunity to play a father of a grown child which is something I’ve never done before. I really enjoyed that aspect to play in this family environment and to play this really normal guy- a Southern guard who has a somewhat unhealthy family that he has to be there for. The role really had a great dynamic to it.
Dread Central: You mentioned the unhealthy family aspect to Ghosts of Georgia; can you talk about how Andy fits into this world considering both his wife and daughter can communicate with ghosts, leaving him sort of the odd man out?
Chad Michael Murray: Yeah, I would say that I’m pretty much the only sanity in this sort of outlandish world which definitely makes me a bit of an observer throughout at lot of the story. He’s really the one keeping them all together and I think it was hard on Andy to see his family struggle like they did especially since he really couldn’t do much except just try his best to keep them safe.
Dread Central: I know both Katee and Emily mentioned in their interview that they were able to meet the real Wyrick family- did you get to meet them too? And if so did meeting them inform your performance at all?
Chad Michael Murray: I did get to meet everyone but Andy about midway through filming; I really wish I could have met them before we started shooting but it just never worked out. So yeah, I never did get to meet Andy because he was kind of aloof and just stayed away from all ‘this.’ And he also sadly passed away about a year ago too so all I really had to go on were some of the stories the family shared with me about Andy and from what they told me, he was a funny guy but really standoffish too so that’s how I tried to play him in the film.
Dread Central: You’re having a pretty incredible winter with Ghosts of Georgia coming out now and with Fruitvale doing so incredibly well at Sundance a few weeks ago now. Would you say that this feels like a new chapter in your career- as you mentioned you hadn’t been offered these more ‘mature’ roles before so it does seem like your transitioning into some new territories now.
Chad Michael Murray: Oh absolutely; I think that’s what great about being an actor is that you’re always challenging yourself by taking on new roles. I think doing the same thing for too long is boring- you have to continue to challenge yourself and evolve if you want to continue to improve and grow as a performer.
When I left the show (“One Tree Hill”), I just wasn’t in love with it anymore; I didn’t have that passion for it anymore and so I took some time off just to study and do stuff I really loved again so now, that passion is back. I think I love acting more so now than I ever did before so now that I’ve gotten some great opportunities like this movie or Fruitvale, it’s just fantastic. I really just want to continue to do things that fulfill me and that keep people entertained.
And I always want to continue doing new stuff with each and every project; I just finished filming a project in Atlanta with Tyler Perry which was a totally different experience than I’d ever had before- and I got to play a dad again so that was cool. I also recently did a comedy called Cavemen that’s going to be out soon in which I play a really darkly comedic role which isn’t something I had really done before. And I think that’s really what drew me to working with Ryan (Coogler) on Fruitvale; it was a totally different opportunity for me to do something really unexpected and we also had Forrest Whitaker involved which was really cool too. It’s amazing to see how everyone responded to it at Sundance- I’m really, really lucky, that’s for sure.
Synopsis
From the producers of The Haunting in Connecticut comes the chilling true story of the Wyrick family. When Andy Wyrick moves his wife, Lisa, and daughter, Heidi, to an historic home in Georgia, they quickly discover they are not the house’s only inhabitants. Joined by Lisa’s free-spirited sister, Joyce, the family soon comes face-to-face with a bone-chilling mystery born of a deranged desire… a haunting secret rising from underground and threatening to bring down anyone in its path.
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