"Kindergarten Cop" is a wild movie. You've got Arnold Schwarzenegger, the quintessential tough '80s action star, walking around with muscles bulging through his shirt as he tries to wrangle a classroom of little kids, all while working undercover for the police. To his credit, the bodybuilder-turned-actor does a pretty good job of switching between teacher and cop in the movie, but it's still a strange dichotomy.
Considering the widespread success of Schwarzenegger's flashier movies, you'd think people would forget about "Kindergarten Cop." But as it turns out, the goofy action-comedy is not only a favorite among children of the 90s, but it's also one of the actor's favorites. In fact, the film represented a major highlight in his career. Schwarzenegger spoke a bit about the role on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" back in 2015:
"I think Kindergarten Cop [is my favorite movie], probably. For so many years, I tried to get into comedy, and I couldn't because the studios made all this money from the action movies, so they said, 'Why would we go and change the mould? We're making a lot of money with you. We keep giving you action scripts'. Then, when I finally met Ivan Reitman and when we did Twins and then we did Kindergarten Cop ... It was really great."
Studio executives weren't the only ones who were hesitant about Schwarzenegger's performance in comedy films. Even though "Twins" had already been a big success, Schwarzenegger's "Kindergarten Cop" co-star Penelope Ann Miller had some reservations about whether the former bodybuilder would be a good fit for the movie. Fortunately, she was proved wrong, with "Kindergarten Cop" eventually earning a place as one of those beloved '90s comedies.
Arnold Spent A Long Time Working Up To Comedy
It's always gratifying to finally achieve a goal, especially if it took a long time. For Arnold Schwarzenegger, that's part of what made "Kindergarten Cop" such a great experience. The action star has spoken about how hard it was to finally convince the studios to trust him with comedy, adding that he would have to sprinkle jokes into his action movies, "so then when the critics write about it and the people talk about it, they say those moments were the most enjoyable moments." Once Schwarzenegger had enough people praising the funny movies in his films, it was easier to convince the studio executives to sign off on a fully comedic film.
That being said, Schwarzenegger had a bit of help from the changing movie market, too. While hyper-masculine action movies were all the rage in the '80s, the '90s saw action-comedies become popular, too. Plus, with one comedy success already under his belt, it was easier for the studios to take a chance on "Kindergarten Cop."
Ultimately though, Schwarzenegger didn't get to spend as long in the action-comedy limelight as he might've liked. While he would make another couple of comedies in the '90s and early aughts, his acting career slowed considerably (especially once he became involved with politics). However, the star's love for comedy hasn't died out — he's even been the driving force to make "Triplets," the planned "Twins" comedy. No surprise there, though. When you spend so long working at something, it's only natural to be passionate about it.
Read this next: The 15 Best '90s Comedies Ranked
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