I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.
The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.
The Film and The Famous Scene
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. The most unforgettable features a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”
That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.
Memories from the Set
Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.
That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?
Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.
Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?
My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.
Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?
He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I guess makes sense. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.
“It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”
I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.
Do you remember your days on set as being fun?
You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.
The Infamous Moment
OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?
At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.
“She really wrestled with it.”
How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she felt it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.
