I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the movie, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for the star to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous involves a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he frequently attends the con circuit. He recently discussed his memories from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, 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 remember anything from that time?

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

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 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.