I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who poses as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for the star to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable belongs to a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the actor, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects on the horizon. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his memories from the filming of the classic 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 youngest 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 flashes. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful 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 hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the 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 original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, 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 didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.