I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the movie, the procedural element acts as a loose framework for the star to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable involves a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and states the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies in development. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. Recently recalled his recollections from the production after all this time.

Memories from the Set

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

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

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

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. 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 probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. 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 exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. This 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 was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.