I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, during the peak of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Film and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a loose framework for Arnold to film humorous interactions with kids. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects in development. He also is a regular on fan conventions. He recently discussed his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. 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 huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to 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 tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the coolest device, 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 received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. 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, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.