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

The action icon is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for the star to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a child named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects in development. He also is a regular on the con circuit. Recently shared his experiences from the filming of the classic 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.

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

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. 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 any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It would have been odd if he was a dick 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 was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

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 shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose it's either the director or producers 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, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.