🔗 Share this article I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation. The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this winter. The Role and The Famous Scene In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the story, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to have charming interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.” The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Furthermore, he is a regular on popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later. Behind the Scenes Question: Starting off, 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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time? Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with. “It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. 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 tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's 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 became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories. The Infamous Moment OK, that specific dialogue, 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 realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I understood 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 originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, 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 deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.
The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this winter. The Role and The Famous Scene In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the story, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to have charming interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.” The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Furthermore, he is a regular on popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later. Behind the Scenes Question: Starting off, 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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time? Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with. “It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. 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 tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's 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 became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories. The Infamous Moment OK, that specific dialogue, 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 realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I understood 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 originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, 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 deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.