I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview.

The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element serves as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous features a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends popular culture events. Not long ago shared his memories from the production over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

Interviewer: First, 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.

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

Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. 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 was aware he was a major movie star because I was told, 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 simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. 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 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 knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? 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 got a big 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 funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.