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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the story, the procedural element serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the actor, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. He also is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago recalled his memories from the production after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

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

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

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant 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 mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. 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 flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 original Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood 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 was conceived, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.