I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: A Candid Conversation.

The Austrian Oak is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, in the midst of his blockbuster fame in the eighties and nineties, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the crime storyline acts as a basic structure for Arnold to share adorable moments with his young class. Arguably the most famous involves a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and states the actor, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies in development. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. Recently discussed his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Interviewer: First, 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 remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

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

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which I suppose makes sense. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with.

“It would have been odd if he was unpleasant 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 — he was a big deal — 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 hang off of his arms. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the coolest device, that funky old 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 teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being enjoyable?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, 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 selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it originated, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were established early on, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it will probably be one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.