I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

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. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this December.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the story, the crime storyline acts as a loose framework for the star to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he is a regular on fan conventions. Recently discussed his recollections from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

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 youngest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, 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, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given 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 positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, the production design, 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 pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.