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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Story and An Iconic Moment

In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. For much of the story, the investigation plot functions as a basic structure for the star to have charming interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and declares the stoic star, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “I appreciate the insight.”

The young actor was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the character of the child who returns in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. He recently recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on.

Memories from the Set

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

Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and then leave. My parents would feed me the lines and then, when I became literate, that was the initial content 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 pleasant, 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 good work environment. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the coolest device, that iconic bright 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 finally gave out. I also received a real silver whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being enjoyable?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, 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 really picky eater at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.

That Famous Quote

OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of 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 wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“It was a difficult decision for her.”

How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, presumably it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. She deliberated carefully. She said she had doubts, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.