I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who masquerades as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the investigation plot functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to film humorous interactions with kids. The most unforgettable features a student named Joseph, who unprompted rises and informs the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included 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 film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago shared his experiences from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I don't recall 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 family, especially my mother would bring 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 coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was nice, which I guess stands to reason. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was great to work with.

“It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played 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 authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach 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 is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. 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 short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.