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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the crime storyline acts as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his experiences from the production over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. 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 help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?

He was very kind. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, 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 wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.