I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a hardened detective who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the film's runtime, the investigation plot serves as a simple backdrop for the star to have charming scenes with children. The most unforgettable involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and declares the stoic star, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was portrayed by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects on the horizon. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the filming of the classic 35 years later.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, 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 have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

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

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all patiently queue, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and then leave. 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 an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. 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 hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the hottest tech out there, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a authentic coach's 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 interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 brand new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Infamous Moment

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I knew 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 originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.