I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the story, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable belongs to a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career included a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects on the horizon. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the production after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, 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 remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was mean 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 frighten me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, 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 eventually broke. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, 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 felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I understood 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 came about, 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 whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.