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

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who poses as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. Throughout the movie, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to have charming interactions with kids. The most unforgettable belongs to a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the haunting part of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Recently shared his recollections from the production after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange 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 barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students 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 played 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 teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably 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 a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.