I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. However, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also is a regular on popular culture events. He recently recalled his recollections from the production after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, 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.

Wow, 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 were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach 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 was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid 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 felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.