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

The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. But, at the height of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Film and An Iconic Moment

In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. For much of the movie, the crime storyline functions as a basic structure for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and informs the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a character arc on Full House as the bully 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 on the horizon. Additionally, he engages with fans at fan conventions. Not long ago shared his experiences from the production over three decades on.

Behind the Scenes

Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I think 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 mental photographs.

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

My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was an open call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was very kind. He was playful. He was pleasant, which I suppose makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with.

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

I understood he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I only wanted to hang out with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was incredibly giving. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It eventually broke. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.

Do you remember your time filming as being fun?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, 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 avoided pizza. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

That Famous Quote

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

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I wasn't supposed to do, but I was given approval in this case because it was funny.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it was conceived, according to family lore, 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 worked on it while filming and, reportedly it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "Give me a moment, let me sleep on it" and took a short while. She really wrestled with it. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and she was right.