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

The action icon is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Film and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable involves a child named Joseph, who unprompted announces and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe 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 have any memories from that time?

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

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which arguably stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — 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 occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time 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 got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, 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 big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help 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, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, 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 deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.