I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, at the height of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for the star to film humorous interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and states the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the character of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects in development. He also is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago discussed his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, 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 don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. 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 dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content 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 good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was fun to be around.

“It'd be weird if he was mean 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 — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That 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 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 were gifted copies 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 working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, 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 toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, 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 knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.