I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the story, the investigation plot acts as a basic structure for the star to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. He also is a regular on popular culture events. Not long ago shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, 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 enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I guess makes sense. It'd be weird 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 a dick 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 never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, 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. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids 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 little kid memories.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose 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 paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.