🔗 Share this article I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation. The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this December. The Film and The Famous Scene In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.” The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his experiences from the production 35 years later. Memories from the Set Q: To begin, 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 have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. 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 a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.” I knew he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well. Do you remember your experience as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, 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, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. That Famous Quote OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous. “She really wrestled with it.” How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.
The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this December. The Film and The Famous Scene In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.” The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his experiences from the production 35 years later. Memories from the Set Q: To begin, 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 have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. 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 a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.” I knew he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well. Do you remember your experience as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, 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, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. That Famous Quote OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous. “She really wrestled with it.” How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.