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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. But, 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 marks its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. His career included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the film version 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 discussed his recollections from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, 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.

That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. 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 take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was nice, which I suppose makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. 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 a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, 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 finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, 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 kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, 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 most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.