I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. Throughout the movie, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for the star to share adorable scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his recollections from the filming of the classic over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

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

That's remarkable, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, 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, when I became literate, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

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 knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. 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 funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, 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 paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.