Edward Furlong

In the quieter passages of American History X (1998), Edward Furlong gives Danny a vulnerability that the film's more emphatic dialogue cannot quite flatten. We worried about him because Furlong made Danny seem capable of being hurt, even when the screenplay was busy turning him into a lesson. Against Edward Norton's force, that softness gives us someone else to attend to. It is a persuasive supporting performance in a film whose actors are often better than their lines.

His debut as John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) established a natural, streetwise presence, and troubled or impressionable young men became recurring parts. But the early work was not confined to large-scale action: American Heart (1992) and Little Odessa (1994) sit between that debut and Danny. John Waters's Pecker (1998), with Furlong in the title role, offered a comic departure from the darker material.

Tony Kaye's American History X makes particularly good use of that vulnerability when it lets Furlong and Norton provide the contrast. David McKenna's screenplay repeatedly explains what the performances have already made understandable, and its bluntness remains a serious limitation. The film would be poorer if Danny were only there to give Norton's performance an audience. Furlong cannot make every line sound like something a person would say, but his quieter passages give us a reason to stay interested when the writing starts delivering another lecture.

A leading role as Ron Decker in the prison drama Animal Factory (2000) followed. The later career moved towards smaller independent productions and lower-profile horror and action, including The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005). There is little use in treating that reduced profile as a judgement on every performance. Nor should the debut be allowed to account for the whole actor. Start with American History X for evidence of what he can do beyond John Connor, though the speeches will require some patience.