I'm Known As the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout features a child named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he is a regular on fan conventions. Recently recalled his memories from the production after all this time.

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 youngest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words 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 extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

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 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 meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, 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 realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she felt it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.