I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.
The action icon is universally recognized as an Hollywood heavyweight. But, at the height of his star power in the late 20th century, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. The standout film is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter.
The Role and An Iconic Moment
In the hit comedy, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who poses as a elementary educator to catch a killer. Throughout the movie, the crime storyline serves as a loose framework for the star to share adorable moments with his young class. The most unforgettable involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “It's boys who have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.”
That iconic child was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he frequently attends the con circuit. Not long ago shared his memories from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later.
Behind the Scenes
Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set.
Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you have any memories from that time?
Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like mental photographs.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was a mass tryout. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, go into the room, 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, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.
Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?
He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that probably wouldn't make for a good work environment. He was a joy to have on set.
“It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.”
I was aware he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I just wanted to play with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up 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 the hottest tech. This was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for years on that thing on that thing. It finally gave out. I also was given a genuine metal whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.
Do you remember your days on set as being positive?
You know, it's amusing, that movie was this cultural thing. 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, the legendary director, the location shoot, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a finitely child at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I avoided pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was just released. That was the big craze, and I was pretty good at it. 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 knew how, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections.
The Line
OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words?
At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I knew it was provocative and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given special permission in this case because it was comedic.
“My mom thought hard about it.”
How it came about, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Certain bits of dialogue were established early on, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it was more of a collaboration, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to say this. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. She deliberated carefully. She said she was hesitant, but she believed it will probably be one of the most memorable lines from the movie and history proved her correct.