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

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. During the story, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. He also is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything 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 family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was nice, which I guess stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange 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 — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was working hard, 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 hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, 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 finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware 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 came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose 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 agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.