I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the procedural element serves as a simple backdrop for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the production 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

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

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

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

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, 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 probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was nice, which I suppose makes sense. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact 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 exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright 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 received a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, 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 collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. 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 proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she felt it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.