🔗 Share this article I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back. Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season. The Story and The Famous Scene In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for the star to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.” That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. Not long ago discussed his recollections from the production 35 years later. Behind the Scenes 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. That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs. Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, 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, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him? He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — 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 wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your experience as being positive? You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, 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. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. The Line OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I probably didn't know 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 an exception in this case because it was comedic. “It was a difficult decision for her.” How it was conceived, according to family lore, 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, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season. The Story and The Famous Scene In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for the star to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.” That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. Not long ago discussed his recollections from the production 35 years later. Behind the Scenes 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. That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs. Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, 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, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him? He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — 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 wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your experience as being positive? You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, 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. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. The Line OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I probably didn't know 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 an exception in this case because it was comedic. “It was a difficult decision for her.” How it was conceived, according to family lore, 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, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.