I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. However, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who poses as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. During the movie, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and declares the actor, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on popular culture events. Recently recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 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 smallest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which arguably stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's 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 amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood 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 came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.