🔗 Share this article I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview. Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this holiday season. The Film and The Famous Scene In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.” The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later. A Young Actor's Perspective Question: Starting off, 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. Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. 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 very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set. “It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I knew he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well. Do you remember your time filming as being positive? You know, it's funny, 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, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, 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 pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections. The Line 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 provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. But, during the peak of his star power in the late 20th century, he also starred in several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this holiday season. The Film and The Famous Scene In the classic film, Schwarzenegger embodies a tough police officer who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the crime storyline functions as a loose framework for Schwarzenegger to share adorable moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a child named Joseph, who out of nowhere rises and states the former bodybuilder, “Boys have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.” The young actor was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a recurring role on Full House playing the antagonist to the Olsen twins and the pivotal role of the youngster who comes back in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. Hughes remains active today, with multiple films on the horizon. Additionally, he frequently attends fan conventions. He recently discussed his experiences from the set of Kindergarten Cop 35 years later. A Young Actor's Perspective Question: Starting off, 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. Wow, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like picture memories. Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and then leave. 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 very kind. He was enjoyable. He was nice, which arguably makes sense. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was a joy to have on set. “It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I knew he was a huge celebrity because I was told, but I had never really seen his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was simply playful and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd tense up and we'd be hanging off. He was really, really generous. He gifted all the students in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was like an iPhone. It was the hottest tech out there, that funky old yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also received a genuine metal whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well. Do you remember your time filming as being positive? You know, it's funny, 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, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, the production design, 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 pepperoni off the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was felt accomplished. So, it's all childhood recollections. The Line 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 provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it made adults laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it originated, from what I understand, was they were still developing characters. Some character lines were written into the script, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they refined it on set and, I suppose someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom paused. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and she was right.