I Was the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this December.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the actor, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. He also is a regular on popular culture events. Recently shared his memories 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: My understanding is I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like picture memories.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, 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, when I became literate, 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 incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

“It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was 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 could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.