The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.
In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the movie, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”
The boy behind the line was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the filming of the classic 35 years later.
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 impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?
Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.
Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?
My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, 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 take on him?
He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably 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 great to work with.
“It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”
I was aware he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex 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 a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, 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 wore out in time. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.
Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?
You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.
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 was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.
“My mom thought hard about it.”
How it came about, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.
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