I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December.

The Story and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. During the story, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable features a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently recalled his recollections from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

Q: To begin, 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.

That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue 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 take on 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 mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened 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 got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception 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 kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose 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, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.