Chad Michael Murray: From screen space to wordplay
Former ‘One Tree Hill’ actor pens a pre-apocalyptic tale of dark heroism.
NEW YORK:
When actor Chad Michael Murray is not playing a teen heart-throb on TV and films, he moonlights as a comic book writer staying up late at night to polish off a dark, end-of-days story he has created.
Murray’s rookie graphic novel Everlast is being published this month by Archaia Entertainment after eight years of nurturing and thoughtful editing. The novel traces the life arc of a man who is looking to save chosen people before mankind faces annihilation on earth.
In a recent interview, the 30-year-old actor states that the idea for the end-of-days story came to him while he was filming the show “One Tree Hill”, in which he played the character of Lucas Scott.
According to Murray, he was inspired to write the book after a man knocked on his door to evangelise in North Carolina. “The man said 144,000 people would be left to survive the end of days and it spurred a lot of ideas. What if that was true? How would you choose these people?” questions Murray.
This notion of how survivors would be chosen gave Murray the idea for the hero of his novel Everlast. Derek Everlast, is an unsung superhero whose calling in life is to find and protect the people who are going to survive the apocalypse.”I’ve been writing for years but this was the first thing I ever followed through with,” the actor states.
Murray took these ideas straight to Stephen Christy, the editor in chief of comic book publisher company Archaia. Christy, whose company often works with first-time writers, says that he was interested in the tragedy of the protagonist’s life, but ultimately it was Murray’s exuberance for the project that sold the concept to him.
Inspired by reel
Murray admits that the book’s style is inspired by films such as Constantine (2005), which is a film about a supernatural investigator and The Crow (1994), which is the tale of a murdered man who comes back to life to avenge his own death.
The actor worked with a team of five artists who created a unique style for each section of the book, which is told from different perspectives. The villain’s section, for instance, has a dark style, while the section written in the perspective of a young girl has a more innocent, anime-type artwork. Murray believes that this technique should help the book stand out from the pack.
The reception to his latest project has so far been positive.”The fans seem to enjoy the character,” he adds, while informing that he had released a short story centred on Derek on his website, even before the graphic novel was published.
While the actor will soon appear in upcoming films such as The Haunting in Georgia and Renee, he states that he is devoted to furthering Everlast, which could one day become a lucrative franchise.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2011.
When actor Chad Michael Murray is not playing a teen heart-throb on TV and films, he moonlights as a comic book writer staying up late at night to polish off a dark, end-of-days story he has created.
Murray’s rookie graphic novel Everlast is being published this month by Archaia Entertainment after eight years of nurturing and thoughtful editing. The novel traces the life arc of a man who is looking to save chosen people before mankind faces annihilation on earth.
In a recent interview, the 30-year-old actor states that the idea for the end-of-days story came to him while he was filming the show “One Tree Hill”, in which he played the character of Lucas Scott.
According to Murray, he was inspired to write the book after a man knocked on his door to evangelise in North Carolina. “The man said 144,000 people would be left to survive the end of days and it spurred a lot of ideas. What if that was true? How would you choose these people?” questions Murray.
This notion of how survivors would be chosen gave Murray the idea for the hero of his novel Everlast. Derek Everlast, is an unsung superhero whose calling in life is to find and protect the people who are going to survive the apocalypse.”I’ve been writing for years but this was the first thing I ever followed through with,” the actor states.
Murray took these ideas straight to Stephen Christy, the editor in chief of comic book publisher company Archaia. Christy, whose company often works with first-time writers, says that he was interested in the tragedy of the protagonist’s life, but ultimately it was Murray’s exuberance for the project that sold the concept to him.
Inspired by reel
Murray admits that the book’s style is inspired by films such as Constantine (2005), which is a film about a supernatural investigator and The Crow (1994), which is the tale of a murdered man who comes back to life to avenge his own death.
The actor worked with a team of five artists who created a unique style for each section of the book, which is told from different perspectives. The villain’s section, for instance, has a dark style, while the section written in the perspective of a young girl has a more innocent, anime-type artwork. Murray believes that this technique should help the book stand out from the pack.
The reception to his latest project has so far been positive.”The fans seem to enjoy the character,” he adds, while informing that he had released a short story centred on Derek on his website, even before the graphic novel was published.
While the actor will soon appear in upcoming films such as The Haunting in Georgia and Renee, he states that he is devoted to furthering Everlast, which could one day become a lucrative franchise.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2011.