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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Story and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for the star to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc 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. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the production 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, 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 remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create 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 knew he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, 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, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, 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 know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.