I Am the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.
The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his star power in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.
The Film and That Line
In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable belongs to a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”
The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.
Memories from the Set
Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the smallest 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 mental photographs.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.
Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?
He was very kind. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably makes sense. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.
“It'd be weird 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 — it was exciting — 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 working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out 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 teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.
Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?
You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional 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 meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.
The Line
OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?
At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.
“It was a difficult decision for her.”
How it came about, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting 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, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.