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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. But, at the height of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who poses as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. During the story, the investigation plot serves as a loose framework for the star to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at the con circuit. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

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

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

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

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

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, 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 just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages 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 received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes 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, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.