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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, at the height of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this winter.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the investigation plot functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. He recently discussed his memories from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

Q: To begin, 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.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My parents, primarily my mom 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 simply wait around, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid 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 years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 original Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to pass certain levels 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 how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.