The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.
In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to film humorous moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous features a student named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”
That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. Recently shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.
Question: Starting off, 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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?
Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.
Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?
My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?
He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.
“It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”
I was aware he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.
Do you remember your experience as being fun?
You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help 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.
OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?
At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.
“My mom thought hard about it.”
How it originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.
Elara is a seasoned gaming journalist with a passion for slot mechanics and player strategies.
