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

The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also headlined several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to locate a fugitive. For much of the story, the investigation plot acts as a loose framework for Arnold to film humorous interactions with kids. The most unforgettable belongs to a child named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “I appreciate the insight.”

The boy behind the line was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with a slate of movies on the horizon. Additionally, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago shared his experiences from the filming of the classic 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 youngest of all the kids on set.

That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time?

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

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

My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was fun to be around.

“It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — 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 wasn't busy. He was working hard, 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 really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the coolest device, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, 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 toppings only. Then, the original Game Boy was new. That was the hot thing, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given special permission in this case because it was humorous.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they were still developing characters. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.