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

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. However, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who poses as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the story, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. The most unforgettable features a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. His career included a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects on the horizon. He also frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe 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, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, 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 legendary director, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? 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 caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.