I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the movie, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. He recently discussed his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

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

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Often 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 briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a big action star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, seeing the 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 toppings only. 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 other children would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

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

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.