I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.
The Role and The Famous Scene
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for the star to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”
The boy behind the line was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he engages with fans at popular culture events. He recently recalled his experiences from the production after all this time.
Behind the Scenes
Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.
That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?
Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.
Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?
My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. 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 feeling about him?
He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was great to work with.
“It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”
I understood he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.
Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?
You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. 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 likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.
“It was a difficult decision for her.”
How it originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.