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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for the star to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. His career featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects in development. He also engages with fans at the con circuit. He recently recalled his memories from the filming of the classic after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around.

“It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood 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 simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out 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 authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, 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, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional 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 toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

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

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.