After winning an opportunity to model in Orlando, this Buffalo native landed representation and headed to Los Angeles following his high school graduation. As a model in campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci and Sketchers, Murray gained visibility. He made his acting debut on an episode of the PAX TV series "Chicken Soup For the Soul" in 1999. The following year he guested as a teen suspect on "Diagnosis Murder" (2000) and began his 2000-2001 recurring turn as Tristan, the over-privileged prep school tormenter of Rory (Alexis Bledel), on "Gilmore Girls". Though the character -- cast opposite Rory in the school production of "Romeo and Juliet" and hell-bent on riling up her good-natured boyfriend -- was smarmy arrogance personified, this role earned Murray the attention of the series' large youth audience, and the actor was soon named a teen heartthrob, landing on the pages of all the top magazines for young women.

Solidifying his appeal with that market, Murray was featured in another recurring role on The WB, playing Charlie, a baby-faced bad boy rocker on "Dawson's Creek" (2001-2002) whose wandering ways sent Jen (Michelle Williams) into the arms of Dawson (James Van Der Beek) and piqued the interest of budding rebel Joey (Katie Holmes). His smirking take on the cocky but charming character (bolstered by no shortage of steamy and semi-naked scenes) earned the actor the attention of older viewers as well as his loyal teen following. The WB quickly graduated Murray to his own teen-angst drama, casting him as the co-lead alongside James Lafferty in the series "One Tree Hill" (2003 - ) as two disparate teens who discover they are secretly half-brothers, with Murray well-cast as the brooding loner from the wrong side of the tracks.

In addition to his television work, Murray had a supporting role as the young version of Michael Biehn's character in "Megiddo: Omega Code 2", the 2001 sequel to the popular Christian action film "The Omega Code." He also had stints as the love interests of the reigning teen queens of the day, playing Lindsay Lohan's motorcycle-riding crush in the mother-daughter body-swapping hit comedy "Freaky Friday" (2003) and Hilary Duff's modern-day version of Prince Charming in "A Cinderella Story" (2004), a clunky contemporary retelling of the classic rags-to-riches tale. Murray then appeared in the not-too-faithful remake, “House of Wax” (2005), playing one half of a pair of fraternal twins (the other played by Elisha Cuthbert) who, along with three friends, get stranded in a ghost town on their way to a football game and ultimately trapped in a house of horrors with wax beings made from previous victims.