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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, during the peak 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 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends the con circuit. Recently shared his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

Interviewer: First, 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 impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation 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 bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

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 likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. 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 deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.