I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the story, the investigation plot functions as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. He recently shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

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 have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I suppose stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was great to work with.

“It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, 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 direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 just released. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.