The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. However, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who poses as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for the star to film humorous interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”
That iconic child was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently shared his memories from the production 35 years later.
Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.
Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?
Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.
Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?
My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there briefly, 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 the initial content I was reading.
Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?
He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster 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 not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out 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 show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.
Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?
You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. 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 quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.
OK, the penis and vagina line, 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 an exception in this case because it was comedic.
“She really wrestled with it.”
How it originated, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably the filmmakers 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 answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.
Film critic and industry analyst with a passion for uncovering cinematic trends and storytelling techniques.
