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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who poses as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot functions as a loose framework for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. He recently recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, 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 remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out 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 dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the referee'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 is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, 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 could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

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 special permission in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.