I Am the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Story and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at the con circuit. Not long ago shared his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It'd be weird 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 — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. 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 beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

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

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.