I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this winter.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for the star to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. He also frequently attends popular culture events. He recently recalled his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: My understanding is 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 picture memories.

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. 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 any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched 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 occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. 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 the star himself, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

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 taboo 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 funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge 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 answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.