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

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this December.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for the star to film humorous interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

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.

That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little 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 impression of him?

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose isn't too surprising. 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 a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a big action star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, 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 caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.