I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.

The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, at the height of his star power in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this holiday season.

The Story and The Famous Scene

In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to catch a killer. For much of the story, the investigation plot serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to have charming moments with his young class. The most unforgettable belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted rises and declares the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”

That iconic child was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he engages with fans at popular culture events. Not long ago recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop after all this time.

Memories from the Set

Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?

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

Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time?

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

Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?

My family, especially my mother would bring me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, once I learned to read, that was some of the first material I was reading.

Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him?

He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a productive set. He was a joy to have on set.

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

I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — he was a big deal — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It wore out in time. I also was given a real silver whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well.

Do you remember your experience as being fun?

You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a huge film, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the 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 new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the bigger kids would bring me their Game Boys to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, 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 know what you were saying?

At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.

“My mom thought hard about it.”

How it came about, according to family lore, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the kids together, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly the filmmakers 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 answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, 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 would likely become one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.