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

The action icon is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. During the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. He also frequently attends fan conventions. He recently recalled his recollections from the filming of the classic after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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 can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — 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 had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage 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 bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages 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 how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults 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 comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.