I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the movie, the investigation plot serves as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable features a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

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 don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess 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 good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would have been odd if he was mean 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 merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative 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 funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.