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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. During the movie, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on popular culture events. He recently shared his experiences from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

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 most junior of all the kids on set.

Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had barely 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 was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic 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 were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater 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 just released. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose 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, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she felt it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.