This Former '90s Heartthrob Lost His Fame, Career, and Even His Teeth – Who Is He?

He was a shy kid with no acting experience when fate walked up and introduced itself. What followed was the kind of Hollywood story that sounds made up: instant stardom, A-list co-stars, and a career that had the whole industry watching. But somewhere between the fame and the freedom, something went very wrong.

He was one of the most talked-about young actors of the '90s — a boy plucked from complete obscurity who went on to share the screen with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Then, just as quickly as the cameras found him, everything unravelled. The roles dried up. The relationships collapsed. And by the time the dust settled, he had lost far more than just his career.

This is the story of a child star who had it all, gave most of it back, and is now — slowly, quietly — piecing his life together again.

A Shy Kid on Some Steps Who Changed His Own Life

He was just 13 years old, sitting on the steps of the Boys and Girls Club of Pasadena, California, when a woman kept smiling at him from across the way. He had no acting ambitions, training, or connections.

His mother, Eleanor, worked at a youth center, and at the time, he was living with his aunt and uncle.

Casting agent Mali Finn was the woman doing the smiling. She had been searching for a young actor capable of holding his own opposite two of the most commanding presences in Hollywood, and something about this particular teenager stopped her in her tracks.

She walked over, asked if he wanted to try out for a movie, and his first thought — by his own admission — was suspicion. He later recalled telling his aunt and uncle that night:

"I even said to them, 'I don't know if this is legit."

Three auditions later, he had the part. The film was "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," and it would go on to gross over $500 million worldwide.

The Role That Made Him and the Pressure That Followed

He played John Connor alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton in what became one of the defining blockbusters of the decade. Overnight, the shy boy from Pasadena became a name.

He won an MTV Movie Award for best breakthrough role and a Saturn Award for best young actor — remarkable for someone who had never set foot on a film set before.

What followed was an impressive, if unconventional, run through Hollywood. He starred opposite Jeff Bridges in "American Heart," earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best supporting actor.

He worked alongside Kathy Bates, Tim Roth, and Walter Matthau. He appeared in the critically praised drama "American History X" alongside Edward Norton, and in John Waters' "Pecker." By his mid-teens, he had collaborated with directors including Steve Buscemi and Barbet Schroeder.

He was, as one 1996 profile put it, "one of the few current 'hot' teen stars who can actually act."

Fame With No One Watching the Door

Behind the accolades, the picture was far more complicated. He came from a fractured home, had no father figure, and was fostered by relatives before eventually going to court to be legally emancipated at just 15.

He never finished high school.

"When I was younger, I didn't have too many people looking out for me, and I was left to run wild," he said in an exclusive 2022 interview:

"I didn't know how to manage my money. If I was older, I wouldn't have made so many bad decisions."

However successful he appeared on screen, he admitted that he lived in constant fear of people finding out who he really was.

That sense of not belonging would eventually drive him somewhere very dark.

The Slow Unravelling

It began, as it often does, with recreational drug use. Then, as his twenties arrived and the parties became nightly, his substance use intensified, progressing to more serious and harmful choices.

One to keep him going, the other to bring him down. And then one day, he was no longer going to parties at all — he was just sitting alone, chasing the next hit.

He lost the role of John Connor in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" after going out to celebrate securing the contract and word of his behaviour getting back to the studio. He admitted in 2019:

"I overdosed on drugs. I had a contract. And that always really bummed me out. John Connor is what changed my life... it's a very close thing to me."

His marriage to actress Rachael Bella, with whom he shared a son, Ethan, ended in divorce by 2009. Multiple run-ins with the law followed.

A 2013 incident involving then-girlfriend Monica Keena resulted in a 180-day sentence, of which he served 61 days. Rehab programmes came and went.

Nothing stuck.

Toward the end, his drug use had escalated dramatically, involving heavy and frequent use of multiple substances. Reflecting on that period, he admitted:

"It's amazing I'm still alive — there were a couple of close calls."

The Arrest That Finally Broke the Cycle

The moment that changed everything came in August 2016, when he and a friend checked into a hotel in Ventura, California, with the intention of getting clean.

Used syringes were found in their room. They were asked to leave, then taken in for questioning while attempting to check into another hotel nearby.

At sentencing in February 2017, he received a suspended 36-month probation — contingent on completing a six-month drug rehabilitation programme. He ended up staying a full year at Wavelengths Recovery in Huntington Beach, California.

He has not looked back since. In 2022, he was four years sober.

The Long Road Back

The actor is Edward Walter Furlong — the boy from those "Terminator 2" steps —, and at 44, he was candid about just how much his substance use had taken from him. Including, in the most literal sense, his teeth.

Years of drug use had caused them to rot and fall out. He eventually had a full set replaced by LA experts Global Implant Dentistry, and described the experience as part of his second chance.

"Every time I looked in the mirror, it just bummed me out as a reminder of what I had done for all those years," he said:

"It's nice to get a second chance. It was a no-brainer, I'm super glad I did it."

By 2022, he had also returned to filming — wrapping a project in Texas called "Charlie's Horse," directed by Brad Keller, who had previously worked on the 1991 film "JFK."

He spoke about being back on set with visible relief.

He described his sober return to acting as rewarding, saying it helped him feel more engaged with his work and freed him from the hangovers that had once accompanied the job.

But rebuilding his career was only one part of the story. The damage addiction inflicted on his personal life proved far more difficult to repair.

The Son He Almost Lost

Furlong and Bella's son, Ethan, was born in 2006. In 2012, when Ethan was six, a court ordered only supervised visits with his father following a troubling incident. It was, by any measure, one of the lowest points in an already difficult chapter.

Sobriety changed that.

By 2022, Furlong described his relationship with his son as wonderful and spoke about the simplicity of his new life with quiet gratitude:

"I get to wake up and not worry I'm going to go to jail. I'm not hungover and wondering what I did last night."

In May 2024, Furlong shared a photo on Instagram standing beside Ethan at his graduation, his son dressed in a red gown with a gold sash and a medallion around his neck.

His caption read, "Words can't even describe how proud I am of you.. I love you, Ethan."

The post drew thousands of likes and hundreds of comments, with fans quick to note the resemblance between father and son. "Looks just like him!" wrote one.

"He is an incredibly handsome young man just like you," said another, with a third sharing the sentiment, "Handsome young man.... just like daddy.."

"Eddie, he is so handsome too," wrote a fourth.

Furlong has said his focus now is on rebuilding what addiction and instability once cost him, including the trust of colleagues and the steady work that had long eluded him.

He acknowledged that restoring those relationships has been a gradual process, but said people have slowly begun to place their confidence in him again, opening the door to new opportunities.

The shy kid from Pasadena who was discovered on a set of steps lost his way for a time. Now, he is slowly finding his footing again.