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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. During the movie, the investigation plot acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and informs the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. He also is a regular on the con circuit. Recently shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

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

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

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, 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 the initial content I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. 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 like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the teacher'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 was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

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 was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.