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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for the star to film humorous interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago shared his memories from the production 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 smallest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. 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 the hottest tech. That was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played 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 real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.