I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. His career included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. Recently recalled his recollections from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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.

Wow, 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 mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun 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 show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation 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 older kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“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 kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.