I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Film and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the film's runtime, the investigation plot acts as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and informs the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects in development. He also frequently attends fan conventions. Not long ago shared his experiences from the filming of the classic after all this time.

Memories from the Set

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.

Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material 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 nice, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was fun to be around.

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

I understood he was a big action star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around 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 purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, 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 avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.