Terminator Star Edward Furlong Reflects on Losing John Connor Role in T3

Terminator 2: Judgment Day was Edward Furlong's acting debut in 1991, and the sequel immediately catapulted him to stardom. Though none of his movies ever quite achieved that same level of pop culture acclaim, Edward Furlong remained a fan-favorite for his portrayal of the young John Connor, which proved to be a near timeless and iconic performance by a child actor. Furlong has also been open about his issues with sobriety previously, and now in a new interview he has revealed how his issues with drugs cost him a return to the role that made him famous.

Speaking on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, Edward Furlong opened up about the fact that he was attached to return as John Connor in 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The actor revealed that he not only had the part and was set to return, but he was on track to receive a major pay day, only for it to fall away.

"The big one...when I lost Terminator 3. Oh my God, dude. So much drugs in my life. That was the contract, they were like we want you to not do any drugs. Whatever, just sign a clause in the contract – no drugs...And it was a sweet deal. It was the best deal that I had ever gotten in my life. For T3, it was like a lot of money, like millions. And I had never made that kind of money, so I called my friends and I'm like, 'Guys, I just signed this f-cking awesome contract, we're going to go to the club, we're going to get a bunch of blow, and we're going to... that's it. This is the end, man, we're going to f-cking do it."

Furlong revealed that to celebrate booking the role in this sequel he and friends went to a club, where he "poured some coke" out to consume but accidentally set out too much, and decided "I was like, 'F-ck it,' and I carved this huge f-cking horse rail and I just did it." After this, Furlong noted that he apparently overdosed and suffered a seizure, an ambulance was called to the scene and when the news broke about his extracurriculars activity, his job offer for Terminator 3 was pulled. 

He added, "And the news caught wind and, of course, they're like, 'Yeah, you know, you lost the movie. We're not going to do it with you.' That was it. And I was like, 'I'm so sorry, Oh my God,' but it didn't matter. I had just signed a contract saying that. I don't know what that was. That was the worst luck or maybe the best luck... I was already on a downward trajectory in a lot of ways, so maybe if I had had that it would've been worse."

Edward Furlong would kind-of return to the role of John Connor for 2019's Terminator: Dark Fate as his likeness and voice was recreated to appear as he did in the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Though one actor served as the body double and another provided the voice, Furlong is listed in the credits for the film as "John Connor reference."

(H/T ScreenRant)