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

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator 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 student named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and declares the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently recalled his recollections from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

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 smallest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

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

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was great to work with.

“It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate 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 cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old 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 referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices 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 Infamous Moment

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

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 kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly 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 paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.