I'm Known As the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the investigation plot functions as a loose framework for the star to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. He also frequently attends fan conventions. Recently recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes 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 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, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was great to work with.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, 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 purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, 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 meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about 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 entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, presumably 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, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.