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

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a loose framework for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and states the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago shared his memories from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content 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 nice, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was fun to be around.

“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 that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.