I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this winter.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects in development. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his experiences 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.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes 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 for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was playful. He was nice, which arguably stands to reason. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the coolest device, that funky old 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 real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. 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 working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.