I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on fan conventions. He recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like picture memories.

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that was it. 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster 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 huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the coolest device, 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 got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, 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, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest 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 quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy 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 funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, 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 was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she felt it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.