James Cameron, the groundbreaking director of Titanic and Avatar, admitted that he came up with the idea for Edward Furlong's character of John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day while listening to a song by Sting under the influence of drugs.
IndieWire reported on the surprising revelation as the release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day was marking its 30th anniversary on July 1. According to Cameron, the genesis of Sarah Connor's 10-year-old son happened in the midst of an MDMA trip while he was listening to "Russians," a song by Sting on 1985's The Dream of the Blue Turtles.
As Cameron recalled, "I remember sitting there once, high on E, writing notes for 'Terminator,' and I was struck by Sting's song, that 'I hope the Russians love their children too.' And I thought, 'You know what? The idea of a nuclear war is just so antithetical to life itself.' That's where the kid came from." As the Cold War between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. was still fueling tensions around the world when Cameron created both Sarah and John Connor, the specter of global thermonuclear war became one of the defining plot points of the blockbuster sequel to The Terminator.
The story of Judgment Day revolves around John and Sarah Connor as they attempt to prevent just such a calamity by thwarting an A.I. supercomputer's plan to spark retaliatory missile strikes by launching U.S. warheads against Soviet Russia. Sarah Connor, portrayed by Linda Hamilton, is first introduced in Cameron's The Terminator, starting off as a victim pursued by the eponymous humanoid machine, gradually becoming the paramilitary force depicted in Terminator: Dark Fate. Though several other violent sequels have taken on lives of their own since it debuted in the summer of 1991, Terminator 2 ends on a positive note, with war having been averted through the self-sacrifice of Connor's cyborg bodyguard, the T-800.
Casting John Connor after having just invented the character presented its own difficulties, although ensuring that he had the right star to play Sarah Connor also required Cameron's diligence. Recounting his entreaty to Hamilton, Cameron said, "I called her up and I said, 'Look, they want to pay us a lot of money to make a sequel. Are you in or are you out? But just between you and me, I don't really want to do it if Sarah doesn't come back and I don't want to recast Sarah, so you got to say you're in.'" Hamilton went on to play Sarah Connor in the film, the recent Terminator: Dark Fate as well as a voice over role in Terminator: Salvation, while John Connor has been played by several actors in addition to Furlong, including Nick Stahl, Christian Bale and Jason Clarke.
Source: IndieWire
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