I Was the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, in the midst of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous involves a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and declares the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. He recently shared his memories from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

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

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, 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, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably makes sense. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen 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 was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out 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 real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle 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 an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

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

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.