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

The Austrian Oak is best known as an iconic tough guy. However, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Story and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. He also is a regular on fan conventions. He recently shared his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

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

Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

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

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids 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 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was fun to be around.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. 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 hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. 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 working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, 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 it's either the director or producers 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, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.