I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to have charming scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. Recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

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.

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. 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 take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines 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 feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity 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 didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, 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 years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the referee'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 amusing, that movie is such a landmark. 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 direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, 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 new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, 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 say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.