I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he frequently attends the con circuit. Recently recalled his experiences from the production over three decades on.

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 youngest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. 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 major movie star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to 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 genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the 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 pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. 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 felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge 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, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.