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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. During the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to film humorous moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the actor, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago discussed his memories from the production after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? 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 got a big 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 humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.