I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the investigation plot functions as a basic structure for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently discussed his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop 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 most junior of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the 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 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 smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? 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 caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes 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 the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.