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

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35-year mark this winter.

The Film and That Line

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a loose framework for Arnold to share adorable interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who spontaneously announces and declares the stoic star, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a character arc on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his memories from the production after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.

That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was the initial content I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably stands to reason. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a positive atmosphere. He was fun to be around.

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

I understood he was a big action star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I knew the air around him — 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 wasn't busy. He was working hard, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. That 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 eventually broke. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your days on set as being positive?

You know, it's funny, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the other children would hand me their devices to beat difficult stages on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Line

OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying?

At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it originated, according to family lore, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I need time" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she wasn't sure, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.