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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. However, at the height of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the film's runtime, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for the star to film humorous moments with his young class. The most unforgettable features a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his memories from the production 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 smallest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was a dick 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 was aware he was a big action star because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid 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 quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

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 provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting 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 paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.