I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the investigation plot acts as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to have charming interactions with kids. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and informs the stoic star, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. He recently shared his recollections from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

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

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was nice, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright 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 have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.