I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the movie, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at the con circuit. Not long ago shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop 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 most junior of all the kids on set.

Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, do whatever little line 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 impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which arguably stands to reason. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. 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 knew he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, 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 incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. 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 legendary director, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy 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 humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.