Former child actor Edward Furlong, best known for his role as John Connor in 1991’s sci-fi blockbuster “T2: Judgment Day,” reflected on his personal difficulties that he encountered after starring in the James Cameron sequel, admitting that he has “made mistakes” as an adult.
“Growing up in the spotlight is really hard,” Furlong, now 49 years old, told People in an interview published Saturday. “It’s tough enough as an adult to be able to navigate … just being a human being and making mistakes, and whatever, when you got a spotlight on you … It’s tough.”
Furlong’s first performance was in “Judgment Day,” playing the messianic son to Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor and teaming with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 for several of the film’s most memorable action sequences. Furlong was just 13 years old when he was cast in the film, an experience that he still thinks of as a career highlight.
“I was spoiled rotten by being able to work with (James) Cameron as like the first director that I worked with because … he really knows what he’s doing,” Furlong said. “It’s like you feel safe with Jim Cameron — you know it’s going to be good.”
Furlong booked prominent roles in “Pet Sematary II” and “American History X” through the rest of the ’90s, but his years as an adult actor were marred by personal troubles. He lost the role of Connor for 2003’s “T3: Rise of the Machines” due to a drug overdose. Later, he was charged with two counts of domestic assault, landing him a jail sentence in 2013. In 2016, he was arrested again for being under the influence of an illicit substance.
“I made … mistakes down the road, a lot of them being drugs and parties and all that stuff,” Furlong told People. “I kind of accepted it at this point as something that has … made me who I am today.”
In 2025, the former child star shared that he was 7 years sober. In August, he reunited with Hamilton and his co-star Robert Patrick at a convention to celebrate the 35th anniversary of “T2.”
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