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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Film and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the screen translation 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 recollections from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, 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 don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that's all. 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 any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster 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 understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining 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 cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, 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, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

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

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.