I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.

The action icon is best known as an action movie legend. But, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this winter.

The Role and That Line

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the investigation plot functions as a basic structure for the star to film humorous scenes with children. The most unforgettable belongs to a student named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the child stars and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films on the horizon. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. He recently shared his recollections from the production 35 years later.

Behind the Scenes

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Often it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that's all. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was nice, which I guess makes sense. 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 a joy to have on set.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — 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 wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

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 collaborating with Schwarzenegger, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably it's either the director or producers 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, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she believed it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.