I Am the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the actor, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he frequently attends popular culture events. Not long ago shared his memories 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: I believe I was four. I was the smallest 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 brief images. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a big action star because my family informed 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 just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. 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 experience as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest 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 quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she felt it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.