I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who poses as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. For much of the movie, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to film humorous interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the production 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Interviewer: First, 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 can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he wasn't busy. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. 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 legendary director, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

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

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 understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. 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, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.