I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. For much of the story, the investigation plot acts as a basic structure for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the actor, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. He recently shared his memories from the production after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

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

That's impressive, I don't recall 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 bring me to auditions. Frequently it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. 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 a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird 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 would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright 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 referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, I suppose 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 agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.