I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the story, the investigation plot acts as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. He also is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, 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 have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick 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 have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

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, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative 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 humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. 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 wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.