I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for the star to have charming moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the actor, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects in development. Furthermore, he is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

Wow, I have no memory from 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 got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was good-natured, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I understood he was a big action star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a real silver 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 funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the 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 toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest 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 felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

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

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, 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 didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.