Arnold Schwarzenegger has had one of the most diverse and successful careers out there, starting his career off with being a professional bodybuilder, then moving to acting and filmmaking, then, oddly enough, getting into politics and becoming the Governor of California for seven years. He has, however, gotten the most attention for his acting career, being part of massive projects like the Terminator franchise, Predator, Commando, and most recently, his work in the Netflix series, Fubar.
Being this famous, the actor has certainly been extremely influential on the young minds of his time. It would seem this was not different for Eddie Furlong, who starred alongside Schwarzenegger in his 1991 movie, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, during which, He acted like a father figure for Furlong.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Acted Like A Father Figure For Eddie Furlong During Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Eddie Furlong appeared in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where he played John Connor. This was his first time acting, so he was fairly inexperienced in the ins and outs of the film industry. Schwarzenegger understood that this being Furlong’s first acting gig, the entire process would be quite scary and nerve-wracking, reminding him of the first time he was in front of the camera and how terrifying that experience was for him.
“It’s really hard to go in to act for the first time in front of cameras in front of like 50 people standing around. The first time I was in a movie, I know how scary it was. And I can imagine what it was like as a 13-year-old kid.” he went on, “I felt like it was up to me to kind of make him my friend, rather than being his mentor. I just started playing games with him and hanging out with him, so that when we eventually started doing the scenes together, he was not any different.”
So, as a way to make the then-13-year-old Furlong more comfortable on set, Schwarzenegger tried to make friends with him rather than try to be a mentor sort of figure for him. He added that he would do this by playing games with Furlong and hanging out with him and when the time came for the two to go on camera, their dynamic did not shift and they were the same while they did scenes together.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Loved Torturing Eddie Furlong On Set
James Cameron, best known for his work on the Titanic and the Avatar franchise, was the director of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. During an interview, the director revealed that on the set of this movie, Schwarzenegger and Eddie Furlong shared a father-son sort of relationship.
“He totally glommed on to Arnold as a father figure, and Arnold loved Eddie and loved torturing him. Jumping him through his hoops, making him do push-ups and all that. “Come on, Eddie. Don’t be so lazy. You’ve got to get fit. You’ve got to get fit.” You could picture it.” said Cameron
Cameron elaborated by saying that Schwarzenegger would use a tough-love sort of approach that felt like torture to many. The Terminator actor would ask the then 13-year-old child to maintain a healthy lifestyle, asking him to not be lazy and to focus on his fitness to be the best version of himself, sometimes asking Furlong to do exercises like push-ups.
Source: The Ringer
