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

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the story, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films on the horizon. He also is a regular on fan conventions. He recently shared his recollections from the production over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes 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 family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was great to work with.

“It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, 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 big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, presumably 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, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she felt it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.