I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a child named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects in development. He also is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

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 most junior of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would have been odd if he was a dick 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 not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, 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 eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's funny, 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 collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. 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.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.