I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this December.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the crime storyline acts as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to have charming moments with his young class. The most unforgettable belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. Recently shared his memories from the production after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was a dick 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 understood he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, 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 avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.