I Am the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who poses as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop 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 states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version 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. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the production over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

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

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

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

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

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because I was told, 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 was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, 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 legendary director, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, 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 first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge 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, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.