I Am the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the actor, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects in development. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago shared his experiences from the production after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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

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

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was pleasant, which arguably makes sense. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out 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 dangling there. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. 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 wore out in time. I also received a authentic coach's 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 funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

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

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.