I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. For much of the movie, the procedural element serves as a simple backdrop for the star to film humorous interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at the con circuit. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

Interviewer: First, 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.

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

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

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines 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 makes sense. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for 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 knew he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact 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 show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. 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 funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, 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 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 Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, 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 entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly 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 didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.