I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this winter.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who poses as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. Recently discussed his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, 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 have no memory from 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 landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, 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 fun. He was nice, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was great to work with.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant 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 — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful 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 cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] 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 toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

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 made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.