I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this December.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the investigation plot functions as a basic structure for the star to share adorable scenes with children. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he engages with fans at the con circuit. He recently recalled his experiences from the production over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was great to work with.

“It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

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, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, 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 first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

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 provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.