I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an iconic tough guy. However, during the peak of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. During the movie, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at the con circuit. He recently discussed his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

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

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

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

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. 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 any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose makes sense. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, 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, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, 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 proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.