🔗 Share this article I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview. The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter. The Role and That Line In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. For much of the movie, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.” The boy behind the line was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. Recently recalled his experiences from the production over three decades on. Memories from the Set Q: To begin, 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 have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs. Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids 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 coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading. Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, 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 was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well. Do you remember your days on set as being fun? You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. The Line OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous. “She really wrestled with it.” How it was conceived, based on what I was told, 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, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. 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, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.
The Austrian Oak is rightfully celebrated as an iconic tough guy. Yet, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the late 20th century, he also delivered several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its three-and-a-half decade milestone this winter. The Role and That Line In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who masquerades as a elementary educator to catch a killer. For much of the movie, the procedural element serves as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to share adorable scenes with children. Without a doubt the standout involves a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the actor, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger deadpans, “Thanks for the tip.” The boy behind the line was brought to life by child star Miko Hughes. Beyond this role encompassed a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the famous sisters and the character of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with multiple films listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. Recently recalled his experiences from the production over three decades on. Memories from the Set Q: To begin, 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 have no memory from being four. Do you retain any flashes from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're brief images. They're like mental photographs. Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop? My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Sometimes it was like a cattle call. There'd be 20, 30 kids 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 coach me on the dialogue and then, when I became literate, that was probably the first stuff I was reading. Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was very kind. He was fun. He was good-natured, which arguably makes sense. It would be strange if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom.” I was aware he was a big action star because my family informed me, 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 was eager to interact with him when he was available. He was working hard, but he'd occasionally joke around here and there, and we would hang off of his arms. He'd flex and we'd be holding on. He was exceptionally kind. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the hottest tech out there, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a authentic coach's whistle. He had the coach whistle, and the kids all received one too as well. Do you remember your days on set as being fun? You know, it's interesting, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of the star himself, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, the production design, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 big craze, and I was pretty good at it. I was the smallest kid and some of the other children would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. The Line OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember how it happened? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I knew it was provocative and it caused the crew to chuckle. I understood it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was humorous. “She really wrestled with it.” How it was conceived, based on what I was told, 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, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We're thinking. 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, let me sleep on it" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and her instinct was correct.