Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the investigation plot acts as a basic structure for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”
The boy behind the line was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects in development. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his experiences from the production 35 years later.
Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.
That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?
Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, 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 incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was mean 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 was aware he was a big action star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright 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 received a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.
Do you remember your experience as being positive?
You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 Nintendo 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 older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.
OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?
At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative 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.
“My mom thought hard about it.”
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 whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, presumably it's either the director or producers 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 short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.
A seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering stories that matter in the Czech Republic and beyond.
