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

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. However, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this December.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to have charming scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the haunting part of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. He also is a regular on fan conventions. He recently shared his memories from the filming of the classic after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was nice, which I suppose stands to reason. It would be strange 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'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. 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 a major status symbol. 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 years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly 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 paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.