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

The Austrian Oak is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the crime storyline serves as a simple backdrop for the star to share adorable interactions with kids. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

That iconic child was portrayed by child star Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on popular culture events. He recently shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

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

Miko Hughes: I believe 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, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children 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, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was enjoyable. 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 likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. That 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 years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional 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 meat from the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it originated, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.