I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak 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 genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Story and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who poses as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. During the movie, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. Recently discussed his experiences from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the smallest 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, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Often 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, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, 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 first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, 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 youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, 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 written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.