I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a hardened detective who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the movie, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for the star to have charming moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the actor, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the character of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. He also is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Q: To begin, 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 don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old 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 real silver whistle. He had the referee'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 interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo 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 felt accomplished. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

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 comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly 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, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.