I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot serves as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. Additionally, he is a regular on popular culture events. Recently shared his recollections 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 impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. 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 a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — 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 busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic 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 teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

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, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from 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 other children would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.