I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is best known as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for the star to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films on the horizon. Additionally, he engages with fans at the con circuit. Recently recalled his recollections from the production over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was pleasant, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with.

“It would be strange if he was mean 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 — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, 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 quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.