I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects on the horizon. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently discussed his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. 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 hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

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 made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. 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 wasn't sure, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.