I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he frequently attends the con circuit. Recently discussed his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

Q: To begin, 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 can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. 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. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, 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 really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, 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 avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. 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, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.