I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. He also frequently attends the con circuit. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest 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 flashes. They're like picture memories.

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, 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, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand 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 wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.