I Was the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, at the height of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who poses as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. For much of the movie, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for the star to film humorous moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects on the horizon. Furthermore, he is a regular on popular culture events. He recently shared his memories from the production over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

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

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

That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to 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 pleasant, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

“It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, seeing the 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 original Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, 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 know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.