I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. During the story, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for the star to have charming moments with his young class. The most unforgettable features a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects in development. Additionally, he is a regular on popular culture events. Not long ago shared his recollections 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: My understanding is 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, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors 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 the initial content 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 arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — 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 occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played 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 teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" 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 iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.