I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Story and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the story, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a child named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

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 smallest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was very kind. He was playful. He was pleasant, which arguably makes sense. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

“It would have been odd 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 never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That 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 years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? 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 made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.