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

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the story, the investigation plot functions as a basic structure for the star to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he engages with fans at the con circuit. Recently shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

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 youngest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, 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 were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue 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 impression of him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird 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 be strange if he was unpleasant 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 barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.