I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.
The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.
The Role and An Iconic Moment
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a loose framework for Arnold to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”
The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character 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 listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.
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 youngest of all the kids on set.
Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?
Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.
Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?
He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.
“It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”
I knew he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.
Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?
You know, it's amusing, 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, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.
The Line
OK, the infamous quote, 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 shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.
“My mom thought hard about it.”
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 whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, 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 deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.
