For the better part of the 1990s, Edward Furlong's life and career were on a seemingly unstoppable trajectory. The actor got his original breakthrough in 1992 via his role as John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. For his work on the James Cameron film, he won an MTV Movie Award for 'Best Breakthrough Performance' and a Saturn Award for 'Best Performance by a Younger Actor.'
At 17 years old, he also bagged a Young Artist Award in the category 'Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture Drama.' The award was for his performance as Shayne Lacey in Tony Bill's 1993 drama, A Home of Our Own. Two years later, in 1996, he appeared with Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson in Before and After.
Everything had probably gone as well as possible for the budding actor in those early years of his professional journey. Fast forward to almost three decades later, and Furlong's life is nothing close to what he might have envisioned back then. Here is how he went from one of the most promising young actors of a generation, to being only worth $100,000 in 2021.
Odds Stacked Against Him
From the very early days of his life, the odds appeared to be somehow stacked against Furlong. He was born on August 2, 1977 in Glendale California, to a youth center working mom and a father who he neither met nor even knew.
His life was almost certainly heading in a completely different direction, as he didn't really harbor any ambition of becoming an actor as he was growing up. That reality changed completely the day he had a chance meeting with Mali Finn, a casting director who was working on the Terminator 2 project. He narrated his recollection of this incident to the Orland Sentinel soon after the release of Before and After.
"I'm sitting on those steps at the Boys Club and this woman kept smiling at me," he said. "I remember thinking, 'Who the heck is this woman?' So finally she came up to me and said, 'Can I ask you a question?' That sounded kind of serious, so I said, 'What did I do?' She said, 'You didn't do anything. I just wanted to know if you want to try out for a movie.' I said, 'Wow, sure.' I couldn't believe it. It was pretty weird."
In the build up to being cast in that breakthrough film, Furlong's mother, Eleanor Torres allowed him to go live with her siblings, Nancy Tafoy and Sean Furlong.
Clamor For His Wardship
As his stock began to rise, however, so did the clamor for his wardship. Furlong's mother became embroiled in multiple custody battles with her siblings for her son, with both sides emerging victorious on different occasions. Tired of the back and forth, the young actor took the most drastic action and filed for emancipation.
The courts granted Furlong his wish, and he took charge of his affairs as a legal adult in 1993. He was 15. By this time, he had met a 29-year old woman called Jacqueline Louise (commonly known as Jackie) Domac. Originally, she was Furlong's tutor while he worked on Terminator 2.
The pair grew increasingly close, though. By the time Furlong was granted his emancipation, she was functioning pretty much as his personal advisor. Eventually, they would also end up becoming a bona fide romantic couple. They both insist that nothing untoward happened between them before Furlong reached a legal age.
Struggled With Drug Addiction
Furlong's other notable works from the '90s include Little Odessa, American History X, Pecker and Detroit Rock City. After the turn of the century, things turned quite difficult quite quickly for him, as he struggled with drug addiction and started to accumulate legal problems.
Notably, his relationship with Domac turned sour. In 1999, she sued the actor for domestic abuse. She also claimed that he owed her a 15% cut of his work in Pecker and American History X (totaling about $110,000), given these were done during the period that they were together.
Furlong's substance abuse problem was a recurring theme of his 20s and 30s, as he shuttled in and out of rehab. He got married to actress Rachael Bella (now retired) in 2006 and they had one child together.
They got divorced in 2009, as Bella claimed that their son, Ethan Page tested positive for cocaine after being under the care of his father. A court restricted Furlong to only supervised visits of Ethan.
Now 43 years old, Furlong has struggled to find good roles in meaningful projects, although he was tapped for a minor role in 2019's Terminator: Dark Fate. The role wouldn't have done much for Furlong's bank account other than help to continue redeeming his image.
The same could be said of his recurring role in CSI: NY for two episodes in 2006 and a further three in 2010.
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