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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Story and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who poses as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. Throughout the movie, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and informs the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Recently discussed his experiences from the production after all this time.

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.

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

Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. 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 any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a big action star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a genuine metal 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 interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

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

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers 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 some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.