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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the story, the procedural element functions as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects on the horizon. He also frequently attends fan conventions. Recently discussed his recollections from the filming of the classic after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, 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.

That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean 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 be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a big action star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand 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 comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.