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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. The most unforgettable features a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the production 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 smallest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

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

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess isn't too surprising. 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 great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright 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 have a real silver whistle. He had the coach 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 became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.