I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a loose framework for the star to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies in development. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. Recently discussed his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines 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 impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I suppose makes sense. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create 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 understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play 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 holding on. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. 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 working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, 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 meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults 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 humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue 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, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.