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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who poses as a elementary educator to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the stoic star, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. He recently discussed his experiences from the production after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, 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.

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was great to work with.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — 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 had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright 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 have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. 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 pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys 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.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers 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, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.