I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this December.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the story, the procedural element serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous interactions with kids. The most unforgettable belongs to a student named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins 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 multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago discussed his memories 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.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was nice, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, 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 received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, 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 knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.