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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. However, at the height of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the film's runtime, the investigation plot serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the stoic star, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, 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 impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. 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 understood he was a big action star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the coolest device, 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 finally gave out. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's 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 was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, presumably 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.