I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable scenes with children. The most unforgettable belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the film version 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 experiences from the production 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, 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.

That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue 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 extremely gentle. He was playful. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It would be strange 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 would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received 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 enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, 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 didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, 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 could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, 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 realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, 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 say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.