🔗 Share this article I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation. The action icon is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season. The Role and An Iconic Moment In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.” The boy behind the line was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently shared his memories 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 don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time? Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was very kind. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun 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 dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable? You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories. The Line OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words? At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny. “It was a difficult decision for her.” How it originated, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.
The action icon is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season. The Role and An Iconic Moment In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.” The boy behind the line was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently shared his memories 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 don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time? Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was very kind. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun 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 dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable? You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories. The Line OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words? At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny. “It was a difficult decision for her.” How it originated, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.