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

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, during the peak of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for the star to share adorable scenes with children. The most unforgettable belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at the con circuit. He recently recalled his experiences from the production over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, 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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, 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 brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.