I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the procedural element acts as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the actor, “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 former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Recently shared his memories from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

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 most junior of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, deliver a quick line 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was mean 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 knew the air around him — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

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

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She really wrestled with it. She said she had doubts, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.