I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous belongs to a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently recalled his memories from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, 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 the initial content I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I was aware he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. 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 flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.