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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. During the story, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous moments with his young class. The most unforgettable features a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters 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 listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago shared his recollections from the production 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like picture memories.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I suppose makes sense. It would be strange if he was unpleasant 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 was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength 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 the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. 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 working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, 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 toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.