If you can believe it, Terminator 2: Judgment Day celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. Has it really been that long? While you ponder the never-ending march of time, some of the Terminator 2 cast reunited at a recent convention, with Edward Furlong, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton posing for a family photo with the T-1000 himself, Robert Patrick.
Robert Patrick posted the photo on Instagram, adding, “Skynet definitely didn’t have this reunion in the original programming. T2 family back together.“
Of course, Edward Furlong played John Connor in Terminator 2, with Linda Hamilton returning as Sarah Connor. Michael Biehn briefly returned as Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future who turns out to be John’s father, but his footage was left on the cutting-room floor. However, it was restored in the film’s Special Edition release.
Furlong was intended to return as John Connor for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, but had to leave as he was battling a substance abuse problem at the time.
“When I lost Terminator 3. Oh my God, dude. So much drugs in my life,” Furlong explained on Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum. “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‑‑‑ing awesome contract, we’re going to go to the club, we’re going to get a bunch of blow.’“
Unfortunately, Furlong overdosed on cocaine that evening, and the studio decided to recast his character with Nick Stahl.
“The news caught wind,” he said. “And of course, [the studio was] 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.“