I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also frequently attends fan conventions. Not long ago discussed his memories from the filming of the classic after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was nice, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, 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, the location shoot, the production design, 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 toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. 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 some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she thought it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.