I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back.

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. Throughout the story, the crime storyline acts as a loose framework for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his experiences from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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 don't recall being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, deliver a quick line they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue 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 feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was nice, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“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 never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. 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 holding on. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, 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 just released. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction 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.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.