I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is best known as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to have charming interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the actor, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters 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 several projects on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I think 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 remember anything from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue 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 very kind. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of 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 pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation 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 hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

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 shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.