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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this December.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the investigation plot functions as a simple backdrop for the star to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. His career featured a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he frequently attends popular culture events. Recently shared his memories 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 believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. 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 great to work with.

“It would have been odd if he was a dick 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 knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.