A child star who appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Terminator film looks unrecognisable now – as he opened up about a battle with drugs which saw him lose his teeth.
Edward Furlong found fame when starring alongside Arnie in Terminator 2: Judgement Day as John Connor while just 13, launching his career in the process.
But things would take a turn for the worse as he became a household name, leading to drug addictions and brushes with the law which saw him end up spending months in prison.
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In a new interview, Edward has opened up on his issues with marijuana, alcohol, cocaine, meth and heroin – a combination of which led to his teeth falling out.
“When I was high, I had camaraderie with other people. Just drinking and partying. All of a sudden, I felt like I was with people and I fit in somehow. That’s how it started,” he told the Daily Mail.
“It sounds weird for me to be talking about teeth because I don’t live and breathe the way I look but every time I looked in the mirror, it just bummed me out as a reminder of what I had done for all those years. It’s nice to get a second chance. It was a no-brainer, I’m super glad I did it.”
Edward is now four years sober and spoke about how it was the best decision he’s ever made in his life to get clean.
Fans were stunned just two years ago when he was spotted alongside legendary porn star Ron Jeremy, with many feeling that Edward needed help.
In 2006, he admitted that he was “on and off” hard drugs from the ages of 22 to 26, adding: “I was a heroin and cocaine addict. It was really scary.”
He explained: “When I was younger, I didn’t have too many people looking out for me and I was left to run wild. I didn’t know how to manage my money. If I was older, I wouldn’t have made so many bad decisions.
“I’m blowing myself away every day. It’s cheesy when I get those year chips but I can’t wait to get my five-year chip.
“Things are slowly turning around and I just want to get my life back to what it was and what I was doing in the first place.”
The actor, who just wrapped up filming on a new project entitled Charlie’s Horse, was honest about the kind of person he was in the past.
Having starred in American History X, Detroit Rock City and alongside Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson in Before and After, his career declined in the mid 2000s, worsening his drug abuse.
Edward explained : “I f***ed over so many people when I was on drugs, gaining back the trust of the people that work with you when you’ve flaked on them so much is a long process.
“It’s like the friendship that happens after a bad breakup – people are learning to trust me again. It’s great and things are slowly starting to get going again.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk