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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. For much of the story, the procedural element serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and states the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his memories from the production after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Frequently 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 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 some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which I suppose stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength 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 the hottest tech. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

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

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.