🔗 Share this article I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview. The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season. The Story and The Famous Scene In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. During the story, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.” The young actor was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. He also frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on. 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 most junior of all the kids on set. That's impressive, I can't remember 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 were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, 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 fun to be around. “It would be strange 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 not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This 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 eventually broke. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well. Do you remember your days on set as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories. The Infamous Moment OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it originated, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, 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 answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.
The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season. The Story and The Famous Scene In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. During the story, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.” The young actor was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. He also frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on. 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 most junior of all the kids on set. That's impressive, I can't remember 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 were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, 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 fun to be around. “It would be strange 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 not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This 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 eventually broke. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well. Do you remember your days on set as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories. The Infamous Moment OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it originated, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, 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 answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.