I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. However, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this December.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the crime storyline functions as a simple backdrop for the star to film humorous scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted announces and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently shared his experiences 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: I think I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, a little bit. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

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 simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, 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 enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably makes sense. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact 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 yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, 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 meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, 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 didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she thought it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.