I Am the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the movie, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. He also is a regular on fan conventions. Recently discussed his recollections from the production 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could 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 incredibly nice. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

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 probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.