We sit down with Miko Hughes, who started working younger than anyone we've talked to yet, having been just over two years old when he played Gage Creed in the 1989 horror classic Pet Sematary.

His story starts before he could even walk, when his mom heard him spell a word from his car seat and decided, on the spot, to take him to Hollywood. She spent nine months getting past the front desk of the biggest kids' agency in town, and once she did, Miko booked the first three things he ever went out for. What followed was a run most actors dream of: the Kindergarten Cop line everyone still quotes (if you know, you know), Michelle's most out-of-pocket classmate on Full House, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Spawn, and screen time with Danny DeVito, Tom Hanks, and Bruce Willis, all before he finished growing up.

We get into what it's like to have your earliest memories be movie sets, growing up on horror sets and sitcom sets, and the harder stuff too, a family that got rocky as the work became its livelihood, and money that vanished the way it did for so many kids of that era. Miko is open and clear-eyed about all of it, and about why he'd still do the whole thing over exactly the same way.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.

P.S: This was the first guest episode we ever recorded, and it showed. The audio was a mess and our 'production design' was two guys and a prayer. We spent the time and remnants of our child acting money to fix it because the conversation with Miko was just too good to bury. Thanks for bearing with us, rascals.

Fun Fact - The word “Like” is used 526 times in this episode.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 – Cold open, and welcoming Miko

01:21 – The call at 27 months old, and returning to the Pet Sematary house

04:09 – Realizing acting wasn't what every kid did

06:34 – Nine months at the agency door: the "MOBIL" story

09:46 – The audition grind, getting into character, and stretched resumes

17:46 – Siblings, homeschool, and growing up around adults

19:30 – Aging out, a rocky home, and stepping away

25:11 – Why this podcast exists, and working-man child actors

27:28 – Horror fandom, the cons, and a Gage Funko

30:26 – Are you proud of your body of work?

32:50 – The Kindergarten Cop line and the prop feeling

36:00 – His dad, the Coogan meetings, and the money that vanished

40:09 – Advice for a parent, and the last era of child actors

44:00 – Wes Craven, a good set, and finding his way back behind the camera

53:41 – Are you proud, and goodbye

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