I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot functions as a simple backdrop for the star to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at the con circuit. He recently discussed his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest 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 brief images. They're like picture memories.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. This 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 wore out in time. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults 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 funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.