🔗 Share this article I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation. The Austrian Oak is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter. The Film and That Line In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the story, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.” That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends the con circuit. Recently recalled his recollections from the production 35 years later. A Young Actor's Perspective 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. That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop? My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him? He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster 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 was aware he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver 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 became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. That Famous Quote OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults 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. “She really wrestled with it.” How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.
The Austrian Oak is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter. The Film and That Line In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the story, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.” That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends the con circuit. Recently recalled his recollections from the production 35 years later. A Young Actor's Perspective 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. That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop? My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him? He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster 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 was aware he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver 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 became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. That Famous Quote OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults 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. “She really wrestled with it.” How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.