Some would argue that drugs are very effective in boosting one’s level of creativity. That seems to have been the case for director James Cameron, whose iconic Terminator sequel turns 30 this year. In an oral history celebrating the action film’s 30th anniversary, Cameron revealed that he was actually “high on ecstasy” when he came up with the idea of John Connor, the younger version of whom was played by actor Edward Furlong in Terminator 2. Cameron explained how he was high while listening to a Sting song about nuclear war called “Russians” with a lyric (“I hope the Russians love their children too”) that ultimately inspired his idea of a kid being the future savior of the human race. The Ringer’s oral history on Terminator 2 also features some other interesting trivia from the actors involved, such as how Arnold Schwarzenegger initially had a big problem with his T-800 not killing anyone—a complete reversal from his role in the 1984 original.
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.
Sources: The Ringer, IGN