Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.
The Role and An Iconic Moment
In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. During the movie, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”
The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also frequently attends popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the filming of the classic over three decades on.
Behind the Scenes
Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.
That's impressive, I have no memory from 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 got the part in Kindergarten Cop?
My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.
Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?
He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.
“It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”
I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.
Do you remember your days on set as being positive?
You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.
The Infamous Moment
OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?
At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.
“She really wrestled with it.”
How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.
