I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.
The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.
The Role and An Iconic Moment
In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the investigation plot serves as a loose framework for Arnold to have charming interactions with kids. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”
The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the production 35 years later.
Memories from the Set
Interviewer: First, 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.
That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?
Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.
Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?
He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. 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 fun to be around.
“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 I was told, 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 just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It 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 ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.
Do you remember your days on set as being positive?
You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, 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, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, 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 just released. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.
The Infamous Moment
OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?
At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.
“It was a difficult decision for her.”
How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she felt it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.
