I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this December.

The Film and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the film's runtime, the investigation plot functions as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects on the horizon. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Recently discussed his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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

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

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Frequently 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, 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 probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

“It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a big action star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, 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 toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge 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 some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.