I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this December.

The Film and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for the star to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part 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 screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe 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 have any memories from that time?

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

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. 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 eventually broke. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.