I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. However, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who poses as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a notable part on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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 have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

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 dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

“It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to 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 sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be holding on. 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 iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, 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 legendary director, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.