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

The action icon is best known as an iconic tough guy. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the movie, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his memories from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, 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 have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably stands to reason. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant 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 — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around 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 Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright 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 eventually broke. I also have a genuine metal 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 amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, 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 direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand 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 shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. 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, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.