I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the story, the investigation plot functions as a loose framework for the star to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout features a child named Joseph, who unprompted rises and states the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. In addition to this part included a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

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

Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set.

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

Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would bring me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, 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, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

“It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.”

I understood he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be dangling there. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out 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 teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. 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, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was funny.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I need time" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.