I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot functions 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 stands up and states the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. He recently shared his experiences from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

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

Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I guess makes sense. 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 fun to be around.

“It would have been odd if he was mean 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 felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. 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 felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative 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 was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.