🔗 Share this article I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview. The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December. The Role and The Famous Scene In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the actor, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.” The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. Recently discussed his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later. A Young Actor's Perspective Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set. Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him? He was incredibly nice. He was fun. 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 probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set. “It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your days on set as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, 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 Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories. That Famous Quote OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic. “She really wrestled with it.” How it came about, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, 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, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.
The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December. The Role and The Famous Scene In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the actor, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.” The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. Recently discussed his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later. A Young Actor's Perspective Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set. Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him? He was incredibly nice. He was fun. 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 probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set. “It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your days on set as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, 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 Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories. That Famous Quote OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic. “She really wrestled with it.” How it came about, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, 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, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.