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

The action icon is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. However, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the story, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character 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 is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

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 youngest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. 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 likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's funny, 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 the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo 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 other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, 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 realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting 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 paused. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.