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

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Film and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the movie, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films on the horizon. Additionally, he is a regular on popular culture events. He recently discussed his recollections from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

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.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

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

“It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. 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 really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.