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

The Austrian Oak is best known as an action movie legend. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Story and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming interactions with kids. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Recently discussed his recollections from the production after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

Interviewer: First, 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 don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom 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, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines 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 nice, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for 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 understood he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. 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 must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably the filmmakers 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, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.