I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the movie, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for the star to film humorous scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. He recently shared his memories from the filming of the classic after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with.

“It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, 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 gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. 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 legendary director, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. 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 came about, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she felt it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.