I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a child named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Recently recalled his memories from the production after all this time.

Memories from the Set

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 impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, which arguably isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

“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 barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have 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 enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. 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 the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo 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 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 youthful anecdotes.

The Line

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

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. 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 was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.