I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the procedural element serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. Recently shared his memories from the production over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, 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.

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

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I suppose makes sense. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a big action star because my family informed me, 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 just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright 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 have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, 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, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids 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.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, 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 have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.