🔗 Share this article I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Look Back. Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this winter. The Film and An Iconic Moment In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who poses as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the stoic star, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.” The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. Recently recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on. A Young Actor's Perspective Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set. Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes 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 briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.” I was aware he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate 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 dangling there. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver 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 funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. The Infamous Moment OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an Hollywood heavyweight. Yet, at the height of his blockbuster fame in the late 20th century, he also starred in several genuinely hilarious comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this winter. The Film and An Iconic Moment In the classic film, Schwarzenegger portrays a hardened detective who poses as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. Throughout the movie, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for Arnold to have charming interactions with kids. Without a doubt the standout features a student named Joseph, who spontaneously rises and informs the stoic star, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” The Terminator replies icily, “Thanks for the tip.” The young actor was brought to life by former young actor Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the character of the resurrected boy in the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Furthermore, he is a regular on the con circuit. Recently recalled his recollections from the set of Kindergarten Cop over three decades on. A Young Actor's Perspective Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the smallest of all the kids on set. Wow, I have no memory from being four. Do you remember anything from that time? Yeah, to a degree. They're flashes. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My family, especially my mother would take me to auditions. Sometimes 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 briefly, deliver a quick line they wanted and that was it. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him? He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which arguably isn't too surprising. It would have been odd if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that surely wouldn't foster a productive set. He was fun to be around. “It would have been odd if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.” I was aware he was a huge celebrity because that's what my parents told me, but I had not actually watched his movies. I felt the importance — like, that's cool — but he didn't really intimidate 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 dangling there. He was really, really generous. He bought every kid in the classroom a Sony Walkman, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the coolest device, that funky old yellow cassette player. I listened to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It eventually broke. I also have a real silver 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 funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was a major production, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, traveling to Oregon, being on a professional set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. For example, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the toppings only. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the big craze, and I was proficient. I was the youngest and some of the bigger kids would hand me their devices to get past hard parts on games because I could do it, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes. The Infamous Moment OK, the infamous quote, do you remember anything about it? Did you know what you were saying? At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word provocative meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I knew it was kind of something I wouldn't usually utter, but I was given approval in this case because it was comedic. “My mom thought hard about it.” How it was conceived, from what I understand, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. Certain bits of dialogue were written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't necessarily improv, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to deliver this dialogue. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't agree right away. She said, "I need to consider this, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. She really wrestled with it. She said she was hesitant, but she thought it would likely become one of the iconic quotes from the movie and history proved her correct.