I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline acts as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories 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 family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — 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 occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] 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 pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

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 provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose 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 didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.