I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects in development. Additionally, he is a regular on popular culture events. Recently recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

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

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

Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a big action star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. That 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 received a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. 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, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.