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

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects in development. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. Recently recalled his experiences from the production after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. 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 enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, 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 legendary director, 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 didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.