I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.

The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the story, the investigation plot acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

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 don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It would have been odd 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 would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out 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 referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, 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 selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? 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 made adults 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 humorous.

“She really wrestled with 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 kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.