I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout involves a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the actor, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. He also frequently attends fan conventions. He recently recalled his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

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 smallest of all the kids on set.

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

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, 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 enjoyable. He was nice, which I suppose isn't too surprising. 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 a joy to have on set.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original 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 beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" 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 unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.