I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. During the story, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the actor, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects on the horizon. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. Not long ago discussed his recollections from the production after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

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

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines 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 incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright 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 was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy 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 comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge 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 some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.