I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who poses as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for the star to film humorous scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the stoic star, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects on the horizon. Additionally, he is a regular on popular culture events. He recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

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

Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all patiently queue, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which arguably isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun 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 tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. That was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. 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 working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, 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 didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge 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, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.