I Was the Iconic Line Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who poses as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for the star to film humorous interactions with kids. The most unforgettable belongs to a child named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects in development. He also frequently attends the con circuit. He recently discussed his memories from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

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

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

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us 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 bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic 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 received a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. 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, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose 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 didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.