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

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the actor, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. His career included a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects in development. He also is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

Wow, 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 mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose 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 positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — 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 had time. He was busy, obviously, 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 hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic 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 have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. 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 collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of 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 didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew 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 originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.