My websites were always targeted primarily for the hardcore fans who almost know it all. The purpose of my sites was too shine light on some very obscure interviews and facts that aren't accessible in well known books or extras that are still available for purchase. However, times change, and new generations and fans come along - and I realized that a lot of my audience consist of fans who aren't diehards who know every book and interview by memory for decades (like all the fans at the Terminator Files Forum years ago), or just never went outside the films. So this is the first part of a different type of FAQ section, for those less initiated in Cameronverse.
Let's continue with "How Old is John?"
Now, I don't think anyone is confused about John's age in Terminator 2: Judgment Day per say, but I do see some criticism that he looked way too old to be 10 Years Old. Did he? And why? Simply because he was 13 as oppose to 10, so he obviously looked 13? Well, not exactly
First of all, let's just clarify his age if there is indeed anyone there who doesn’t know it. It isn't said, but it's written in the actual film, and you can read it on the Police Computer. He's 10 years old, and the action of the film takes place in 1995
Now, the fact that he was 10 was basically everywhere in the press, and story synopsis, so it's pointless to list and show all of them, as there's so much, and especially since it’s in the actual movie, so I'll just show some samples like the back of the first theatrical trailer
The back of the Marvel Comic Adaptation
While the “Ten Years Ago is rounded here as it was more so 11 and creates some confusion, as mentioned, the movie itself and Cameron confirmed John to be 10. Here a few quotes from James Cameron, here’s one from Starlog Magazine #171, October 1991
Here’s another confirmation from the man himself from Syd Field interview
That also gels well with the first movie, in which Sarah is 19 according to the script, novelization, and Cameron interviews.
Excerpt from James Cameron interview from 1992, republished in James Cameron Interviews book
And below, an excerpt from the first film’s final March 1984 shooting script
The first film also shows is ger College Student ID. Silberman in T2 says that Sarah is 29 year old, so that makes John 10 as well, placing Sarah’s birth around May. Below, excerpt from T2 script
While today some wise cracks can be found online about Eddie Furlong being an obvious teenager in the film, in the beginning, one of the reasons he was cast was because he actually looked the youngest of all of his peers! It was during the shoot that Eddie hit puberty, grew a foot, changed his voice and turned physically into a teenager
Stephanie Austin (T2 co-Producer) : He was smaller than the other kids, and he was under nourished. That was one of the things that drew Mali (Finn, Casting Director who found Eddie) to him (T2 4K extras)
When Eddie was hired, he looked and sounded 8 years old. Here are some of the latter auditions he had, some with Linda Hamilton, prior to filming the movie
Eddie grew up during the shoot so fast and so much, they had to dig a hole in the ground for him so his height would match with other part of the scene shot months prior. Below, screencaps with the 2003 text commentary
Furlong actually got taller than Linda. His voice was then replaced in the postproduction with his teenage puberty voice, except for two scenes.
This "little' Eddie we can still see unchanged during some of the Desert scenes, particularly when fixing the truck with the Terminator - it's the only scene where his voice, who sounds here like 5 year old's, hasn't been rerecorded, and his appearance here is visibly younger. Note the Extreme DVD text commentary mentioning digging a hole again
Since the movie wasn't shot in chronological order, those differences get lost in the flow of the film while they're mixed together (which shows how good the editing is), but if you compare scenes from early in the shoot to those shot months later, you can clearly tell.
So Eddie changed from looking like an 8 year old to looking like a 15 year old almost overnight during the shoot of the film. Of course, there was no way he could have bene replaced at that point - the movie had one of the tightest schedules in history of blockbusters, and was the most expensive movie ever made, with looming release date. It was impossible to at that point recast and reshoot what has been done. Also, it wasn't necessary - the dialogue was redone to match Eddie's teenage voice, and the height was cheated with holes in the ground, and as far as the older appearance, it really isn't that rare for a kid to look either much younger or much older. It all depends on genes and upbringing. Even the same film proves the point - the kid who points at John at the Arcade place is actually an adult staff member. See screenshot with text commentary below
Personally, I had dealing with this all my life so it was never anything unusual for me at all - I looked far younger than I was most of my life, and my son is the opposite - he's now 8 but everyone thinks he's at least 11 or a teenager, and he's his teacher's height, towering above all the other kids.
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