I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the film's runtime, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for the star to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. He recently discussed his recollections from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like picture memories.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring 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 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 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 playful. He was good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a big action star because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, 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 wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

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 wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, 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 deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.