I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the story, the investigation plot functions as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects on the horizon. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Interviewer: First, 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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to 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 extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

“It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic 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 wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's funny, 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 collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.