When Terminator 2's Edward Furlong was 15, his 28-year-old tutor started "dating" him.

In the early 90s, teen actor Edward Furlong was an undeniable star. He was plucked from obscurity after a casting director spotted him standing on the steps of a youth club and became a bonafide "heartthrob" for millions of teenagers after starring in James Cameron's hit Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Yet behind the scenes, there was a lot going on in the 13-year-old's life. Firstly, there was a tug-of-war for his guardianship between Furlong's mother Eleanor, his aunt Nancy and uncle Sean, and his court-appointed lawyer Bruce Ross. 

Then there was Jacqueline Louise Domac. Domac, who was then 26 and married, met Furlong on the set of Terminator 2 after she was hired as his stand-in. Once the film was completed, she was told she would make a good tutor for the teen, so Domac went back to college to earn a degree in teaching. 

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In 1992, Domac began working as a tutor to the children starring in the film A Home of Our Own. This was Furlong's fourth film - his other movies Pet Sematary 2 and American Heart had been smaller than Terminator 2 but relatively well-received.

According to Entertainment Weekly, director Tony Bill suspected Domac, then 28, had romantic intentions towards Furlong, then 15. She was subsequently fired from set after being discovered "wrestling playfully with Furlong and another child on the floor of her classroom."

Furlong's aunt and uncle, who were his guardians at the time, did not think Domac did anything wrong and kept her on as his private tutor. In 1993, they also hired her as a social worker so that she could monitor Furlong's welfare on the set of his film Brainscan.

Things quickly went south.

The actor's aunt, Nancy, began to suspect there was "something very wrong and sick about [Domac and Furlong's] relationship." When she questioned Domac about it, the tutor replied, "I know how much power I have over Eddie. I know I can make him do anything I want."

In September that year, Furlong moved in with Domac. With his monthly allowance of $2,500, he supported himself and his "tutor", who began divorce proceedings from her husband.

The following year, in January 1994, the teen's aunt and uncle filed a complaint with the police, stating that Domac had engaged in statutory rape. The police interviewed Furlong, and the complaint was discarded.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 16-year-old secured legal emancipation from all of his relatives.

According to a 1994 New Yorker article, Furlong and Domac "fell in love" during the summer of 1993 and began openly dating. When the New Yorker journalist Vernon Scott met up with Furlong for the interview, he noted how Domac also attended, and held the teen's hand.

"Domac is petite, dresses younger than her age, wears little makeup and speaks hardly at all. To the casual observer, Furlong and Domac would seem to be stuck on each other romantically. It might be a case of puppy love, but then one of them really isn’t a puppy," the journalist wrote.

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In a strange twist of fate, once Furlong's relatives were out of his life, his on-set behaviour was very calm. Domac accompanied him everywhere (but was no longer his tutor), and soon, people began to accept her as a "stabilising force" for Furlong - despite their age difference.

"It was a delight to work with him. He was always emotionally present. I think he’s a very accomplished actor. And, in many ways, he was the most cooperative actor in the picture. Other than the fact that I got a Coke with Edward after shooting, I would never have known about his family," Little Odessa director James Gray said.

"I had my doubts at first, but I think [Domac is] good for him. She's a stabilising force and she cares for the guy. After a while, who can quibble with that?"

As for Domac, she maintained that she helped Furlong with "managerial things".

"I want to be clear: I don’t work for him," she said adamantly. "There's no money involved. I just help out. That gets messed up in the press sometimes."

In 1995, a 17-year-old Furlong told Interview magazine, "I think it’s damn cool that I got a 29-year-old. But in terms of the generation thing, me and Jackie always sit down and talk about this. It's such a fragile subject, but at the same time you really can't help it when you love somebody."

He would then tell Cosmopolitan, "Jackie's always been my backbone. She goes everywhere with me, because otherwise we'd miss each other."

Domac continued to work as Furlong's quasi-manager, seeing him through Before and After, Pecker and American History X, where the actor showed he could handle a meaty and nuanced role.

They remained together until October 1998. By this time, Furlong was 21 and Domac was 34. Afterwards, the pair both claimed they had never had sex while he was underage.

In 1999, Domac stated the actor was a "violent domestic abuser" who caused her severe emotional distress, and, in a lawsuit against him, claimed that Furlong owed her $110,000. The lawsuit also said that she was subjected to a barrage of "verbal abuse, threats, violent outbursts and outrageous and unlawful attacks".

After the breakup, the 22-year-old actor partied hard. He suffered from drug and alcohol abuse, resulting in a month in rehab in 2001. His partying ways reached a crescendo when he was rushed to hospital after blacking out. Domac later helped put him on a plane to a treatment facility, and that was likely the last time they saw each other. She has since gone on to become a blogger and educator known as Jackie Day.

In 2006, Furlong told People magazine the relationship was Domac was a mistake. "If I could push rewind on that relationship, I would. And delete. The problem is, nobody told me it wasn't good for me."

That same year, he married Rachael Bella and their son was born in September 2006. The couple divorced in 2009. Their relationship was tumultuous due to Furlong's drug and alcohol abuse. 

In January 2013, he was arrested for domestic battery against his then-girlfriend Monica Keena and sentenced to 180 days in jail.

He was arrested again in 2017 for being under the influence of an illicit substance while trying to check into a hotel. Furlong was given a suspended sentence of 36 months on probation, provided he completed a six-month drug rehab. He's been sober ever since.

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Now 44, Furlong has spoken openly about how his addictions affected him and those around him.

"I was never a normal teenager. I had a very un-normal life. I was almost destined for [drug addiction]. In a weird way, I never really felt like I fit in," he told the Daily Mail.

"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. That's how it started. It worked for a long time. I will say, I used to love tripping and psychedelics. There's some cool good stuff that comes out of that.

"But it's a whole other thing when you get to the hard drugs. In my twenties, I was partying and wanting to go out every night, but I was so tired and I'd be drunk and want to do more cocaine so I could wake up and drink some more."

The actor now has a "wonderful relationship" with his son and is much happier. "I've learned as time goes on, it's easier than I thought it would be. I like myself better, people definitely like me better sober," he said.

"I like how simple my life is these days. I get to wake up and not worry I'm going to go to jail. I'm not hungover and wondering what I did last night. There's so many awesome things and reasons I do it for. I hope to keep it up. It's the greatest thing I've ever done."

Feature Image: Getty.

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