I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Look Back.

The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the movie, the investigation plot acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and states the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he is a regular on fan conventions. Recently shared his experiences from the production over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like picture memories.

Do you recall how you got the part in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would accompany 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 briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was nice, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was great to work with.

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

I was aware he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. 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, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.