Chad Michael Murray Recalls ‘Ridiculous’ Tank Top Debate Behind “Sullivan’s Crossing” Chop-Off Scene (Exclusive)

Sabienna BowmanThu, July 2, 2026 at 5:24 PM UTC

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Marcus Rosner (left) and Chad Michael Murray on 'Sullivan's Crossing'Credit: Netflix -

Chad Michael Murray says the wood-chopping scene in Sullivan's Crossing was "ridiculous" but fun to film

Behind-the-scenes debates included whether Murray and co-star Marcus Rosner should wear matching or different tank tops

Murray says the humorous scene provided levity in a season filled with heavy storylines and emotional challenges

Chad Michael Murray knows that Sullivan's Crossing chop-off scene was "ridiculous," but it was also a lot of fun.

In the season 4 premiere, "Curveballs," Maggie (Morgan Kohan) and Cal's (Murray) burgeoning romance hits a snag when Maggie's estranged husband Liam (Marcus Rosner) shows up in town. He also has some news: their marriage wasn't legally annulled after all. With all this drama brewing in the background, it's no wonder Cal and Liam end up in a testosterone-fueled wood-chopping contest in front of the kids at the Crossing.

Murray, 44, recalls the first time he read the scene and tells PEOPLE his initial reaction was "nah, this is not happening." He adds, "It's so ridiculous."

But the moment did make it into the show as Cal and Liam both stripped down to their white tank tops to swing their axes in the sexy scene. According to Murray, those tanks sparked quite a bit of discussion behind the scenes.

Marcus Rosner (left) and Chad Michael Murray on 'Sullivan's Crossing'Credit: Netflix

"I remember there was such a large debate in just the tank tops," he says with a laugh. "Like, 'Whoa, whoa, well, is he going to be in the dark tank top and you're the light tank top? Was he going to wear a gray one?' And then it both ended up being the same shirt, we shop at the same store. So that was a whole thing, which was actually pretty funny."

While the scene may have been a little tongue-in-cheek, Murray says he and Rosner, 36, had fun filming the buzzy moment. "Marcus is such a good guy that we were able to just hang out and kick it," he says.

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"But you got to commit. Once you commit to something, the scene will work," the Freakier Friday alum continues. "On paper, it's a hard scene to say, 'How are we going to do this?' But then you get there and you go, 'All right, let's do it.' And we commit and we go for it and we shoot it. And we had a lot of great actors, a lot of great people around us saying, 'Hey, you know what? This is funny. It works.' So we had our chop-off."

Chad Michael Murray (left) and Morgan Kohan on 'Sullivan's Crossing'Credit: Jessie Redmond/Fremantle

That moment of humor was important in the premiere since season 4 takes Cal and Maggie to some heavy places. The star-crossed pair's romance hits a major speed bump as Maggie realizes she still has feelings for Liam. Add in Cal's dedication to keeping siblings Ben (Colby Frost) and Tracy (Emerson MacNeil) together, and the two spend most of the season being pulled in different directions.

"I like the scenes of levity," Murray shares. "They're such a breath of fresh air, and I think it's for everyone in the audience too, because you got to come up for air. You can't keep the show so heavy the entire time because people are like, 'Oh my gosh.' "

He adds, "So the chop-off was fun. We shot it. We went through a lot of wood and got my workout for today. Boom."

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Sullivan's Crossing season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”