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Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977) is an American actor whose best known film roles include John Connor in Terminator 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 2.
- 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
- Green Hornet
And a crapload of others.
Tropes associated with Edward Furlong:[]
- Anti-Hero: He has played this kind of role a lot, especially in The Crow.
- Bishonen
- Dawson Casting: He's always at least a few years older than his characters, although this is mainly because he's Older Than He Looks.
- Disappeared Dad: His father walked out on him early in his life.
- Estrogen Brigade Bait: If you were a teenage girl during the 1990s, you likely crushed on him.
- Fake Nationality: He plays a white skinhead in American History X, but is actually also half Mexican and part Native American.
- 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.
- Former Teen Rebel: He was known for his drug problems in his teens and 20s, but is allegedly clean now.
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: As a result of Terminator, he has quite a following in Japan, and has starred in a number of Japanese commercials, and has even released an album there.
- Mouthy Kid: He used to play this kind of role in a lot of his earlier movies.
- Shotacon: He began dating Jackie Domac, a 29 year old, when at the time he was only 14 years of age!
- Smoking Is Cool
- Star-Making Role: John Connor in Terminator.
- Older Than They Look: He was 14 years old playing a 10 year old in Terminator, and 21 playing a 16 year old in American History X. 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, 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.
- Playing Against Type: His role in Pecker, a comedy, when he was known for playing more troubled characters.
- Teen Idol
- Teacher-Student Romance: During the filming of Terminator 2, he dated the woman serving as his tutor while he was out of school.
- Unkempt Beauty