I Am the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.
The action icon is best known as an iconic tough guy. However, during the peak 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 three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.
The Story and The Famous Scene
In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the stoic star, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”
The boy behind the line was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. He recently shared his experiences 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: I believe I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.
That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?
Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.
Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?
My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there for a very short time, 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 probably the first stuff I was reading.
Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?
He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. 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 big action 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 wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.
Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?
You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.
That Famous Quote
OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?
At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults 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 humorous.
“It was a difficult decision for her.”
How it originated, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.
