original_language_of_work american heart
Edward Walter Furlong ( born August 2 , 1977 ) is an American actor and musician . A former teen idol , Furlong won Saturn and MTV Movie Awards for his breakthrough performance as John Connor in "" ( 1991 ). The following year he gave an Independent Spirit Award - nominated turn opposite Jeff Bridges in " American Heart ", and earned a second Saturn Award nomination for his work in " Pet Sematary Two ". He won a Young Artist Award for his performance alongside Kathy Bates in " A Home of Our Own " ( 1993 ), and shared a further ensemble nomination with the cast of the film . John Connor is a fictional character of the " Terminator " franchise . Created by writer and director James Cameron , the character is first referred to in the 1984 film " The Terminator " and first appears in its 1991 sequel "" initially portrayed by Michael Edwards ( briefly as the older Connor ) and then by teenage actor Edward Furlong throughout the remainder of the film ; in addition , Linda Hamilton ' s real - life son Dalton Abbot played John as a toddler in a dream sequence . The character is subsequently portrayed by 23 - year - old Nick Stahl in the 2003 film "" and by 19 - year - old Thomas Dekker in the 2008 television series "". ___MASK55___ - ___MASK26___ actor Christian Bale portrays 33 - year - old Connor in the film series ' s fourth installment , " Terminator Salvation ", and Australian actor Jason Clarke portrays a 44 - year - old Connor , who becomes the T - 3000 and serves as the antagonist of the film series ' s fifth installment , " Terminator Genisys ". American Heart is a 1992 film by Martin Bell , starring Edward Furlong and Jeff Bridges . It was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award in a number of categories , and won in the Best Male Lead category .