I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. He recently shared his experiences from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, 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.

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines 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 take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest 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 really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.