I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. Not long ago discussed his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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.

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff 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 good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. 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 the hottest tech. It was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

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, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, 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 knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood 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, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers 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. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.