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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the story, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends popular culture events. Recently shared his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, 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.

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was good-natured, 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 would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, 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, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue 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, I suppose it's either the director or producers 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, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.