I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview.

The Austrian Oak is best known as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35-year mark this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger embodies a undercover cop who poses as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the movie, the crime storyline serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to film humorous interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

That iconic child was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the character of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. He also is a regular on fan conventions. Recently recalled his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Behind the Scenes

Interviewer: First, 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.

Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

Yeah, a little bit. They're snapshots. They're like picture memories.

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

My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines 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 incredibly nice. He was fun. He was nice, which I suppose stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was fun to be around.

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

I knew he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — he was a big deal — but he didn't frighten me. He was merely entertaining and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, 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, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages 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 the context? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I likely didn't understand 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 wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they didn't have specific roles. Certain bits of dialogue were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, 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 paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.