I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. Yet, at the height of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this winter.

The Story and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who poses as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout features a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted announces and informs the actor, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins 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 several projects on the horizon. Furthermore, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently shared his experiences from the production over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines 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 extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I guess isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with.

“It'd be weird 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 barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength 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 like an iPhone. That was the must-have gadget, that funky old 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 received a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, 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, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember the context? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big laugh. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, 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 developed it during shooting 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 agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.