I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter.
The Story and An Iconic Moment
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming interactions with kids. The most unforgettable features a student named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”
The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. Not long ago shared his recollections from the production over three decades on.
A Young Actor's Perspective
Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.
That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?
Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.
Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?
My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.
Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?
He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.
“It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”
I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.
Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?
You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.
That Famous Quote
OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?
At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.
“It was a difficult decision for her.”
How it came about, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. 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, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.