I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Look Back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, in the midst of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Role and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to catch a killer. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element acts as a basic structure for the star to have charming interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”

The boy behind the line was played by former young actor Miko Hughes. His career encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films in development. He also frequently attends fan conventions. Recently shared his recollections from the production over three decades on.

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 most junior of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.

Do you recall how you landed the job 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 patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue 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 impression of him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably stands to reason. It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was fun to be around.

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

I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the must-have gadget, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was new. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand 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 wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous.

“She really wrestled with it.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.