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

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the investigation plot acts as a simple backdrop for the star to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous involves a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. He also is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

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.

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I suppose stands to reason. It would have been odd 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 understood he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. 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 show his strength and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. 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 amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, the location shoot, the production design, 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 pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.