I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago discussed his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Interviewer: First, 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 can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was nice, which I suppose stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was great to work with.

“It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic 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 finally gave out. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

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 the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.