🔗 Share this article I Am the ‘Penis and Vagina’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview. Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December. The Story and The Famous Scene In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.” The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects in development. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. Recently recalled his memories from the production over three decades on. A Young Actor's Perspective 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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs. Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines 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 very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which arguably stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set. “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 barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your experience as being fun? You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts 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 how it happened? Did you understand the words? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. 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, 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 the filmmakers 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, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December. The Story and The Famous Scene In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.” The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects in development. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. Recently recalled his memories from the production over three decades on. A Young Actor's Perspective 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 impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs. Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines 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 very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which arguably stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set. “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 barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your experience as being fun? You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts 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 how it happened? Did you understand the words? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. 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, 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 the filmmakers 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, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.