[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/star_wars_furlong_2_8949.jpg]]

Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977 in Glendale, California) is an American actor whose best known film roles include John Connor in ''Terminator 2'' and Daniel Vinyard in ''Film/AmericanHistoryX''. He is a two-time Saturn Award nominee, winning the 1992 Best Performance by a Younger Actor award for his performance in ''Terminator 2''. He also won the 1992 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance for his work in the film.

He got his big break with ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' when an agent approached him in a Boys Club, despite him not having any interest in acting beforehand. He was considered a hot commodity for a while, and has starred in a lot of films since then - around 40 since 1991 - although a lot of them are lesser known. He also had a brief (but popular) music career in [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Japan ]] in 1992 and modeled for Calvin Klein and the Gap. As a youth, he was known for playing a lot of troubled, "street kid"-like characters, but more recently has been starring in a lot more weird and quirky roles.
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!!Has starred in:

* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' as John Connor. [[StarMakingRole His breakout role and arguably most popular movie to date.]]
* ''Film/PetSemataryTwo''.
* ''American Heart''
* ''A Home Of Our Own''
* ''Film/{{Brainscan}}''
* ''Film/LittleOdessa''
* ''The Grass Harp''
* ''Before And After''
* ''Film/{{Pecker}}''
* ''Film/AmericanHistoryX''
* ''Film/DetroitRockCity''
* ''Film/AnimalFactory''
* ''Film/TheCrowWickedPrayer''
* ''Film/TheGreenHornet''
* ''Film/AssaultOnWallStreet''

And a crapload of others, including a recurring role as a serial killer on ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' (2006-2010).

!!'''Tropes associated with Edward Furlong:'''

* AntiHero: He has played this kind of role a lot, especially in ''Film/TheCrowWickedPrayer''.
* DisappearedDad: His father walked out on him early in his life.
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: He's 5'5".
* FormerChildStar: Despite several solid performances in his later films such as ''Film/AmericanHistoryX'' and ''Animal Factory'', he is most widely known as young John Connor in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''.
* FormerTeenRebel: He was known for his drug problems in his teens and 20's, but is allegedly clean now.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: [[invoked]] As a result of ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', he has quite a following in Japan, [[{{Japandering}} has starred in a number of Japanese commercials]], and has even released an album there.
* HollywoodHypeMachine: Starring in the biggest movie of 1991 kickstarted a productive career. But it ultimately fell on both poor role choices and [[https://lebeauleblog.com/2015/08/21/what-the-hell-happened-to-edward-furlong/ a very troubled life]].
* MouthyKid: He used to play this kind of role in a lot of his earlier movies.
* OldShame: He's apparently not very fond of his short musical career.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He was 13 years old playing a 10 year old in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', and 21 playing a 16 year old in ''Film/AmericanHistoryX'' and ''Film/DetroitRockCity''. Even in his 30's, he still has quite a youthful demeanor and high-pitched voice.
* ParentalAbandonment: At the time he was being cast for his first movie, ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', he wasn't even living with his parents, and for years was being moved around to different relative's houses. A nasty custody battle ultimately ended in him becoming emancipated at age 16.
* TeenIdol: As he started his career at 14, his early 90s output counts as this.
* TeacherStudentRomance: During the filming of ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', he began dating the adult woman who served as his tutor while he was out of school. They remained together for years, despite his guardians attempting to have her prosecuted for statutory rape.
* UnkemptBeauty: Most of his teen and early 20s roles don't play up his PrettyBoy looks.
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