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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, in the midst of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films on the horizon. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his memories from the production after all this time.

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 youngest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom 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, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words 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 impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, 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 worked on it while filming and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.