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 Hollywood heavyweight. However, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which marks its 35th anniversary this December.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a elementary educator to catch a killer. During the movie, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable interactions with kids. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.”

The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. His career featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies in development. He also frequently attends popular culture events. He recently shared his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

A Young Actor's Perspective

Question: Starting off, 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 can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, deliver a quick 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 the initial content I was reading.

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

He was incredibly nice. He was playful. He was nice, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would be strange 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'd be weird if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”

I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he had time. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. That was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's interesting, that movie became a phenomenon. It was a major production, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner 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 youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections.

That Famous Quote

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning?

At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. 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.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. 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 a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she felt it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.