I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the movie, the crime storyline acts as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous features a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Recently shared his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the youngest 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 flashes. They're like picture memories.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, 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 incredibly nice. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would be strange 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 was aware he was a major movie star because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play 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 hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of 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 meat from the top. 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 pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking 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 an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, 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 refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.