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 American History X. 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 Terminator 2: Judgment Day 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 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.
Has starred in:
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day as John Connor. His breakout role and arguably most popular movie to date.
- Pet Sematary Two.
- American Heart
- A Home Of Our Own
- Brainscan
- Little Odessa
- The Grass Harp
- Before And After
- Pecker
- American History X
- Detroit Rock City
- Animal Factory
- The Crow: Wicked Prayer
- The Green Hornet
- Assault on Wall Street
And a crapload of others, including a recurring role as a serial killer on CSI: NY (2006-2010).
Tropes associated with Edward Furlong:
- Anti-Hero: He has played this kind of role a lot, especially in The Crow: Wicked Prayer.
- Disappeared Dad: His father walked out on him early in his life.
- Expecting Someone Taller: He's 5'5".
- Former Child Star: Despite several solid performances in his later films such as American History X and Animal Factory, he is most widely known as young John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- Former Teen Rebel: He was known for his drug problems in his teens and 20's, but is allegedly clean now.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: As a result of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, he has quite a following in Japan, has starred in a number of Japanese commercials, and has even released an album there.
- Hollywood Hype Machine: Starring in the biggest movie of 1991 kickstarted a productive career. But it ultimately fell on both poor role choices and a very troubled life
. - Mouthy Kid: He used to play this kind of role in a lot of his earlier movies.
- Old Shame: He's apparently not very fond of his short musical career.
- Older Than They Look: He was 13 years old playing a 10 year old in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and 21 playing a 16 year old in American History X and Detroit Rock City. Even in his 30's, he still has quite a youthful demeanor and high-pitched voice.
- Parental Abandonment: At the time he was being cast for his first movie, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 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.
- Teen Idol: As he started his career at 14, his early 90s output counts as this.
- Teacher/Student Romance: During the filming of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 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.
- Unkempt Beauty: Most of his teen and early 20s roles don't play up his Pretty Boy looks.
