🔗 Share this article I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Arnold Schwarzenegger Comedy: A Candid Conversation. The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter. The Role and An Iconic Moment In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the investigation plot functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.” The boy behind the line was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently discussed his memories from the production 35 years later. Memories from the Set Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set. That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything 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 family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with. “It would have been odd 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 knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play 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 bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It 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 received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well. Do you remember your time filming as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections. The Line OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words? At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood 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 kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge 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 a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.
The Austrian Oak is universally recognized as an iconic tough guy. But, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this winter. The Role and An Iconic Moment In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a kindergarten teacher to track down a criminal. During the story, the investigation plot functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable scenes with children. Arguably the most famous belongs to a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and states the former bodybuilder, “It's boys who have a penis, females have a vagina.” Arnold responds dryly, “Thanks for the tip.” The boy behind the line was brought to life by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role included a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the resurrected boy in the film version of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects listed on his IMDb. He also engages with fans at fan conventions. He recently discussed his memories from the production 35 years later. Memories from the Set Q: To begin, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: I think I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set. That's remarkable, I don't recall being four. Do you remember anything 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 family, especially my mother would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, enter the casting office, be in there less than five minutes, read a small part they wanted and that's all. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was some of the first material I was reading. Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him? He was very kind. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I suppose isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a positive atmosphere. He was great to work with. “It would have been odd 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 knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he didn't really intimidate me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play 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 bought every kid in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. It 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 received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all received one too as well. Do you remember your time filming as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, looking back now, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, the legendary director, visiting Astoria, the production design, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For instance, they got everyone pizza, but I didn't even like pizza. All I would eat was the meat from the top. Then, the original Game Boy was brand new. That was the hot thing, and I was proficient. I was the smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all childhood recollections. The Line OK, the infamous quote, do you remember the context? Did you understand the words? At the time, I probably didn't know what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood 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 kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, reportedly someone in charge 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 a short while. It was a tough call for her. She said she was hesitant, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and her instinct was correct.