I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, at the height of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the story, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for the star to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on the con circuit. Recently recalled his memories from the filming of the classic after all this time.

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 smallest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I suppose makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was great to work with.

“It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened 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 authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, 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. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.