I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he is a regular on popular culture events. Recently recalled his recollections from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, 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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue 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 take on him?

He was very kind. He was playful. He was nice, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — 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 working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal 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 amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] 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 didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. 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 knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

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 was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.