I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. For much of the story, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he is a regular on popular culture events. Not long ago discussed his memories from the production over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

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 retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you were cast 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, be seen, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, 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 very kind. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for 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 knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to 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 teacher'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 funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, 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, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. 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.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she felt it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.