I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious 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 plays a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the movie, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and states the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Furthermore, he frequently attends the con circuit. Not long ago shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play 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 dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater 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 brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.