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

The Austrian Oak is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this December.

The Film and That Line

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to film humorous moments with his young class. The most unforgettable features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. He recently recalled his memories 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 have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. 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. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

“It'd be weird 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 not actually watched 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 had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us 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 gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. This 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 years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] 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 avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids 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, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults 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 funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, reportedly someone in charge 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 agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.