I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the story, the investigation plot functions as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also frequently attends the con circuit. He recently shared his recollections from the production 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 most junior of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that's all. 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 any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

“It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a authentic coach's 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 positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater 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 first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly the filmmakers 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 answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.