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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the movie, the investigation plot acts as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he is a regular on popular culture events. He recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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

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

That's remarkable, 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. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could 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 extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose stands to reason. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around 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 bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright 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 was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's 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 is such a landmark. 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 working with Arnold, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

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 shocking 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 approval in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. 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 short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.