Terminator teen star now unrecognisable after tragic downfall saw him lose teeth

A teen star who shot to fame appearing alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest actors now looks unrecognisable after battling a crippling alcohol and drug addiction that nearly killed him and even saw him lose his teeth.

Edward Furlong was just an ordinary 13-year-old when he was selected to star opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The actor, who played John Connor in the hit 1991 sci-fi film, went on to appear in the sequel short film, T2-3D: Battle Across Time and landed other big roles in films like American History X.

But the pressures of stardom at such a young age quickly started to weigh on Edward. Daily partying soon spiralled into an intense booze and drug addiction that led to multiple arrests and even some time behind bars for the now 46-year-old actor.

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Opening up about how his struggles began, Edward previously told the Daily Mail he was “almost destined” for drug addiction. He explained: “I never really felt like I fit in. So, 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.”

He recalled it started with marijuana, booze and magic mushrooms but it wasn’t long before he also got hooked on cocaine and heroin as he entered his early 20s and partied nearly every day. Edward insists that if he’d been older, he’d have been unlikely to make as many “bad decisions”.

But while he admitted he “loved tripping and psychedelics” at first, it soon spiralled into a severe drug addiction that saw him “whacked out of his head” and doing cocaine alone. He managed to reign in his drug use when he married actress Rachael Bella in 2006.

After welcoming a son together, who is now 17, Edward was able to kick his heroin addiction and “maintain” a diet of weed, alcohol and the occasional line of cocaine. But it didn’t last long and by the time Rachael filed for divorce in 2009, Edward was hooked on meth and heroin again.

In January 2013 he was arrested for domestic battery against his then-girlfriend Monica Keena and spent 61 days behind bars. He was also ordered to complete a 90-day drug program but was unable to overcome his addiction.

Edward recalled how after getting out he was still “shooting loads and loads of heroin, meth and smoking DMT [a psychedelic drug] all the time”. His last brush with the law came in 2016 when he was convicted for being under the influence of drugs, but it was this arrest that Edward actually credits for turning his life around.

The former teen star was ordered to complete a six-month drug rehab but ended up spending a year at a drug rehabilitation centre in California and was able to give himself a “second chance” after finally getting sober. Edward noted he’s lucky his drug addiction didn’t kill him.

“It’s amazing I’m still alive – there were a couple of close calls. I definitely OD’d but that’s the cycle you know,” he said. He says he now has a “wonderful relationship” with his son and has even been working on getting his acting career back on track, noting it feels “great” not to be hungover on set.

Last year he starred in the family drama Heart of a Champion as well as the thriller The Forest Hills. As part of his second chance at life, Edward has also had a new set of teeth fitted to replace his old ones — which had rotted away because of his meth use.

“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,” he said. Last February, he also celebrated a significant landmark — five years of sobriety.

Taking to Instagram to reflect on his addiction recovery, Edward shared a screenshot from his Twelve Steps programme as he captioned the post: “I always wonder if I’m jinxing myself by posting this. Because from what I’ve seen sobriety is not something you win it’s something you continuously fight for. But making 5 years blows my mind, especially since I had never even made it a year before.

He added: “If you’re struggling with sobriety just know. If I can make it this far, anyone can. All you need to do is decide you want to live and be willing to do anything to survive. Life can be really f***ing hard sometimes but if you keep marching forward to make it to the great parts It’s all worth fighting for. Don’t give up.”

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk