I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the investigation plot serves as a simple backdrop for Schwarzenegger to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at the con circuit. He recently recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

Question: Starting off, 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.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue 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 feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably stands to reason. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a big action star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. This was the coolest device, that distinctive classic 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 have a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's funny, 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, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction 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 an exception in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose 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 answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.