I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago discussed 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: I believe I was four. I was the youngest 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, 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 bring me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was a dick 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 not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. 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 years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? 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 got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, 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 was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly 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 a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.