I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.
The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this holiday season.
The Role and An Iconic Moment
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”
The young actor was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. He recently recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.
Memories from the Set
Question: Starting off, 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 have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?
Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like picture memories.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.
Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?
He was very kind. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably makes sense. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.
“It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”
I understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, 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 wore out in time. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.
Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?
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, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid 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 felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.
That Famous Quote
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 taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.
“She really wrestled with it.”
How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.
