I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.
The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.
The Film and An Iconic Moment
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. During the story, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”
The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters 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 several projects on the horizon. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.
Memories from the Set
Interviewer: First, 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 remarkable, I have no memory from 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 got the part in Kindergarten Cop?
My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.
Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?
He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was nice, which I suppose stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.
“It'd be weird if he was a dick 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 didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.
Do you remember your days on set as being fun?
You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.
That Famous Quote
OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?
At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction 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.
“She really wrestled with it.”
How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. 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 some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.
