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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, during the peak 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 holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a loose framework for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films on the horizon. Additionally, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago discussed his memories from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, 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, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. 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, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? 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 got a big laugh. I understood 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 originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, 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 say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.