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

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Film and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. During the movie, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for the star to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and declares the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Recently discussed his experiences from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was fun to be around.

“It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength 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. This was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic 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 eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional 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 pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. 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 pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

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 understood 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 was conceived, according to family lore, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.