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

The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot acts as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films on the horizon. He also is a regular on the con circuit. He recently discussed his experiences from the production 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

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

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Sometimes 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 feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. 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 flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, 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 really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction 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 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 whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.