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

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, in the midst of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. During the movie, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for the star to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Recently discussed his experiences from the production over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose 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 fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic 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 was given a real silver whistle. He had the coach 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, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, 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 brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, 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 deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.