I Am the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the movie, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects on the horizon. Furthermore, he frequently attends popular culture events. He recently shared his recollections from the production 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

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

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

That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. 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 big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex 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. It was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, 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 toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. 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.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably it's either the director or producers 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, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.