I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the investigation plot functions as a loose framework for the star to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he engages with fans at popular culture events. He recently recalled his memories from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, 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 finally gave out. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. 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 working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. 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 little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

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

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, 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, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" 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 iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.