🔗 Share this article I Was the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back. The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter. The Role and The Famous Scene In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.” The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. He also frequently attends fan conventions. He recently recalled his recollections from the filming of the classic over three decades on. 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 smallest of all the kids on set. That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was great to work with. “It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the must-have gadget, 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 wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well. Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable? You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections. The Line OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words? At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it came about, according to family lore, 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 refined it on set and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. 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 had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.
The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter. The Role and The Famous Scene In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.” The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. He also frequently attends fan conventions. He recently recalled his recollections from the filming of the classic over three decades on. 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 smallest of all the kids on set. That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was great to work with. “It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the must-have gadget, 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 wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well. Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable? You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections. The Line OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words? At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it came about, according to family lore, 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 refined it on set and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. 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 had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.