I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. During the story, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. He recently recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was fun to be around.

“It'd be weird if he was unpleasant 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 barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. 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 likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.