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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the story, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. He also frequently attends fan conventions. Not long ago shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

Q: To begin, 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.

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. 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 big action 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 merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out 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 cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. 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 coolest device, 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 eventually broke. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach 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 became a phenomenon. 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 legendary director, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.