I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is best known as an iconic tough guy. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who poses as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the movie, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the actor, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. Recently shared his memories 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: I believe 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 retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was nice, which arguably stands to reason. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster 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 was aware he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining 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 cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened 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 received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. 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.