I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the investigation plot acts as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. He recently shared his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

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.

Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. 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 dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. 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 collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, 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 new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.