I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Role and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. During the story, the investigation plot serves as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed 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 pivotal role of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the filming of the classic 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 smallest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was pleasant, which arguably makes sense. 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'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact 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 flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

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

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission 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 part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, 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, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.