I Am the Iconic Line Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this December.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the movie, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for the star to have charming interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his recollections 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 youngest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, deliver a quick 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 any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was nice, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would be strange 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 be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up 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. It was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, 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 meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.