I Was the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December.
The Story and That Line
In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the investigation plot serves as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”
That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends popular culture events. Not long ago discussed his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.
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 can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?
Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.
Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?
He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.
“It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”
I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. 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 years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.
Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?
You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, 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 pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.
The Infamous Moment
OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?
At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.
“My mom thought hard about it.”
How it originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set 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 paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.