I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. During the movie, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for the star to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

Wow, 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 were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant 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 knew he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, 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 brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.