I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.
The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this winter.
The Role and The Famous Scene
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. During the movie, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”
That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the haunting part 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 on the horizon. He also frequently attends fan conventions. Recently recalled his experiences from the production 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 youngest of all the kids on set.
Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?
Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.
Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?
My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines 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 extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I suppose isn't too surprising. 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 a joy to have on set.
“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”
I knew he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — 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 was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.
Do you remember your time filming as being fun?
You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children 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 how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?
At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.
“My mom thought hard about it.”
How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.