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

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he is a regular on popular culture events. Not long ago shared his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. 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. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids 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 then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity 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 kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. That 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 eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. 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 believed it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.