I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The action icon is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Story and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. He also is a regular on popular culture events. Recently recalled his recollections from the production 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, 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 brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines 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 take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

“It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a huge celebrity 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 was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic 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 authentic coach's 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 amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the legendary director, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest 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 felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, reportedly someone in charge 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, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.