As an adult, Furlong's career has been affected by substance abuse and addiction. He underwent drug rehabilitation in 2017.
Early life
Edward Furlong was born August 2, 1977[1] in Glendale, California.[2] The son of Eleanor Torres (née Tafoya), Furlong is of Mexican descent on his mother's side and has also described himself as "part Russian".[3][4] Furlong has a maternal half-brother, Robert, who was born in 1981. As of 1991, Furlong had never met his biological father.[4]
In the early part of Furlong's childhood, he and his half-brother were raised by his mother and his stepfather, Torres's then-husband Moises Torres. The couple's marriage ended before Furlong appeared in Terminator 2.[4] Furlong began residing with his aunt, Nancy Tafoya, and his mother's half-brother, Sean Furlong, in 1990 following a disagreement with his mother. A custody battle between Furlong's mother and his aunt and uncle followed.[5] Nancy Tafoya and Sean Furlong obtained custody of Furlong. Initially, the two served as Furlong's managers.[3]
Furlong's tutor, Jacqueline Domac, engaged in a romantic relationship with him when he was a minor. The two met on the set of Terminator 2 when Furlong was 13 and eventually began living together. When California's statutory rape law was changed in 1994 to allow the prosecution of adult women who have sex with minors, Furlong's uncle, Sean Furlong, filed a statutory rape complaint against Domac; he was unsuccessful in having Domac prosecuted.[3] In 1999, Domac sued Furlong and claimed that he had subjected her to domestic violence.[6]
Furlong began his film career by playing John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He was discovered for the part by casting director Mali Finn while visiting the PasadenaBoys and Girls Club. None of the child actors who had auditioned for the role were "streetwise" enough to portray the character, so Finn looked to recruit someone without acting experience. When Furlong's first reading for the part did not go well, director James Cameron was inclined to look for someone else; however, Finn persuaded him to give Furlong another chance. Ultimately, Furlong was cast as Connor.[8]Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released in the summer of 1991 and became "the biggest movie of 1991" and "one of the great feel-bad blockbusters of all time".[9] His work in the film earned Furlong an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance[10] and a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.[11]
In 1998, Furlong played the title role in Pecker, a comedy directed by John Waters,[22] and starred in American History X alongside Edward Norton.[23] For his work in American History X, Furlong was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor.[18] Of his title role in Pecker, Furlong stated, "It's true most of the characters that I've played so far are kind of like suicidal. Really dark roles, which I like. But I wanted to do something different and John gave me a chance to do that."[24] Also in 1998, he starred in the film Detroit Rock City. During filming, he met Natasha Lyonne, who had a supporting role in the movie; the two dated for a period of time.[25]
Furlong's career declined considerably after 2000, with most of his subsequent films being released straight to DVD.[27] In 2001, he played a lead role in the medieval drama The Knights of the Quest, a little-seen film by Italian filmmaker Pupi Avati.[28] He was expected to play John Connor again in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003); however, the role was recast and given to Nick Stahl shortly before filming began.[29] Furlong has said that he was hired to reprise the role of Connor in Terminator 3 and was slated to be well-paid for his efforts; however, he was removed by the producers after an overdose incident which violated the terms of his contract.[30]
In 2004, Furlong appeared in a music video for Metallica's "The Unnamed Feeling".[31] He also played Jimmy in the low budget independent film Jimmy & Judy (filmed in 2004, released in 2006).[32] He played the eponymous lead in the superhero film franchise The Crow's fourth film, The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005), co-starring with David Boreanaz and Tara Reid. The film was initially planned for a theatrical release but was widely panned by critics and audiences, and was released to DVD after running for one week in limited theaters. He appeared in Night of the Demons, the 2009 remake of the 1988 horror classic, which was shot in New Orleans and released straight to DVD.
In 2006 and again in 2010, he appeared in five episodes of the television program CSI: NY as Shane Casey.
In July 2019, James Cameron confirmed that Edward Furlong would be returning to the role of John Connor in the then-upcoming movie Terminator: Dark Fate.[33] Because the story depicted his character shortly after the events of Terminator 2, Edward's facial likeness was used via CGI, with teenaged Jude Collie as a body-double giving the physical performance to which Furlong's digitally de-aged face was added.[34][35] Furlong was involved in one day of filming for facial capture performance, for the opening scene of the movie, in which a young John Connor is killed off.[36]
When Furlong was 16, he was openly in a relationship with his sometime stand-in and tutor, 29-year-old Jacqueline Domac.[3] In May 1999, Domac sued Furlong for domestic violence and for 15 percent of his earnings from the previous three years, which she claimed that she was owed because she had allegedly worked for Furlong as his manager.[6]
Furlong married actress Rachael Bella on April 19, 2006. The couple had a son, born in September 2006.[32] On July 8, 2009, Bella filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.[39] Later in 2009, in an effort to allow Furlong to have parental visits with their child, Bella sought to dissolve a restraining order which she had previously filed against him.[40] In 2012, Bella alleged in court documents that their then-six-year-old son had tested positive for cocaine, which led a judge to rule that Furlong's visits with him must be supervised.[41]
Substance abuse and legal problems
Furlong's mugshot in Los Angeles, 2014
Furlong has battled alcoholism in particular and drug addiction in general throughout his career. He first went into rehab in October 2000.[42] In 2006, Furlong stated he was "on and off" hard drugs from ages 22 to 26 and added that "I was a heroin and cocaine addict. It was really scary. [...] I don't even think about (partying) anymore. It seems lonely now: Running and clubbing and doing coke. I have nightmares about doing hard drugs. I'll wake up and I'm like, 'Did I relapse?'"[43]
In September 2009, Bella filed a restraining order against Furlong after he allegedly punched her while in a drug-fueled frenzy.[27] In 2010, he received three years of probation for violation of the civil protective order obtained by Bella.[citation needed]
In October 2012, Furlong was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence against his girlfriend Monica Keena.[44] In November 2012, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting Keena.[45] In January 2013, he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery against Keena and arraigned on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for a December 12 misdemeanor domestic violence charge also involving Keena.[46] In March 2013, he was sentenced to 180 days in jail for a violation of probation after he "used force" against his ex-girlfriend, and for violation of a protective order, prohibiting approach and contact with Keena.[47] He was arrested again in May 2013 for assaulting his girlfriend as well as violating a restraining order, battery, dissuading a witness by force or threat and vandalism. He avoided a further prison sentence after agreeing to five years' probation, 90 days of drug rehabilitation, and one year of domestic violence counseling. He had spent 61 days in jail.[48]
In August 2016, Furlong was arrested in Ventura for being under the influence of an illicit substance. At sentencing in February 2017, he was given the chance to complete a six-month drug rehab in exchange for a suspended sentence of 36 months on probation.[49]
Recovery
Following his arrest in 2013, Furlong committed to rehabilitation.[50]
After being arrested in August 2016 and sentenced in February 2017, Furlong spent a year at Wavelengths Recovery in Huntington Beach.[49]
In February 2021, Furlong reunited with his American History X co-star, Ethan Suplee, on Suplee's podcastAmerican Glutton to discuss his recovery from drug addiction and compulsive eating. Speaking on his initial hesitation to maintain sobriety, he said, "I genuinely was afraid of facing what I would be without all that, because I carried all that as who I was".[51] In 2022, Furlong stated that he had achieved four years of sobriety and had replaced his drug-damaged teeth with a new set of teeth.[52]
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