I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. During the movie, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and declares the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, 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.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“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 I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. This 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 received a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

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 knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. 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. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.