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

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. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the story, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. He recently shared his memories from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: My understanding is 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, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could 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 enjoyable. He was pleasant, which arguably stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a major movie star 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 frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, 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 gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, 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, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. 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, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction 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 comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.