I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, in the midst of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the story, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is 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, to a degree. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. 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 time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, 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 paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she felt it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.