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

The action icon is rightfully celebrated as an action movie legend. However, in the midst of his star power in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this holiday season.

The Role and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to track down a criminal. For much of the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a loose framework for Arnold to film humorous interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout belongs to a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the stoic star, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”

The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a notable part on Full House playing the antagonist to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he frequently attends the con circuit. He recently recalled his recollections 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.

That's remarkable, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

Yeah, somewhat. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections.

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Frequently it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all patiently queue, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would feed me the lines and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

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

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I guess makes sense. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I understood he was a huge celebrity because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — 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 had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well.

Do you remember your experience as being positive?

You know, it's amusing, that movie is such a landmark. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the hot thing, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would ask for my help to get past hard parts on games because I was able to, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.

The Infamous Moment

OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given special permission 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. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, reportedly someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Give me a moment, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.