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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this December.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films 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: I believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a big action star because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional 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 Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

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

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.