I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an iconic tough guy. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this December.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the investigation plot acts as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. Recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

“It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — 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 tense up and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old 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 eventually broke. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, 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, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, presumably 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, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.