🔗 Share this article I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation. The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this December. The Film and An Iconic Moment In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.” The boy behind the line was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. Recently shared his recollections from the filming of the classic 35 years later. A Young Actor's Perspective Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set. That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop? My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean 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 a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a major movie 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 didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic 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 received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable? You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of 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 avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections. That Famous Quote OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic. “It was a difficult decision for her.” How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.
The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this December. The Film and An Iconic Moment In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.” The boy behind the line was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. Recently shared his recollections from the filming of the classic 35 years later. A Young Actor's Perspective Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set. That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop? My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean 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 a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a major movie 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 didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic 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 received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable? You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of 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 avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections. That Famous Quote OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic. “It was a difficult decision for her.” How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.