🔗 Share this article I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: An Interview. The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this holiday season. The Film and That Line In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for the star to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.” The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. He recently shared his memories from the production after all this time. Behind the Scenes Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set. Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set. “It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.” I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic 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 have a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle 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 such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. That Famous Quote OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big 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 comedic. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.
The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an action movie legend. But, in the midst of his star power in the late 20th century, he also headlined several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35-year mark this holiday season. The Film and That Line In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. For much of the story, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for the star to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, females have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.” The boy behind the line was played by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the famous sisters and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. He recently shared his memories from the production after all this time. Behind the Scenes Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set. Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're brief images. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My parents, primarily my mom would bring me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be a room full of young actors and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there for a very short time, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was very kind. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It would be strange if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set. “It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.” I knew he was a major movie star because my family informed me, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I was eager to interact with him when he wasn't busy. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was the hottest tech. That was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic 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 have a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle 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 such an amazing experience, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a really picky eater at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the other children would bring me their Game Boys to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. That Famous Quote OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo meant, but I understood it was edgy and it got a big 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 comedic. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it originated, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they worked on it while filming and, I suppose it's either the director or producers came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought it could end up as one of the iconic quotes from the movie and her instinct was correct.