🔗 Share this article I Am the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from Kindergarten Cop: An Interview. The Austrian Oak is best known as an iconic tough guy. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December. The Film and That Line In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the story, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.” The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins 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 on the horizon. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. He recently recalled his experiences from the filming of the classic 35 years later. Behind the Scenes Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set. That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him? He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with. “It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a big action star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your days on set as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections. The Infamous Moment OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous. “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 written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose 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 paused. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.
The Austrian Oak is best known as an iconic tough guy. However, in the midst of his cinematic dominance in the eighties and nineties, he also delivered several critically acclaimed comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its three-and-a-half decade milestone this December. The Film and That Line In the classic film, Schwarzenegger plays a undercover cop who masquerades as a elementary educator to locate a fugitive. During the story, the procedural element acts as a simple backdrop for Arnold to have charming scenes with children. Arguably the most famous features a little boy named Joseph, who unprompted stands up and declares the former bodybuilder, “Males have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Schwarzenegger responds dryly, “Thank you for that information.” The boy behind the line was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part encompassed a recurring role on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the Olsen twins 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 on the horizon. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. He recently recalled his experiences from the filming of the classic 35 years later. Behind the Scenes Interviewer: First, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop? Miko Hughes: I believe I was four. I was the youngest of all the kids on set. That's impressive, I don't recall being four. Do you have any memories from that time? Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like visual recollections. Do you recall how you landed the job in Kindergarten Cop? My mother, mainly would take me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be 20, 30 kids and we'd all just have to wait, go into the room, be in there less than five minutes, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was the initial content I was reading. Do you have an impression of meeting Arnold? What was your take on him? He was extremely gentle. He was playful. He was good-natured, which I suppose stands to reason. It'd be weird if he was a dick to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a productive set. He was great to work with. “It would have been odd if he was unpleasant to all the kids in the classroom.” I understood he was a big action star because I was told, but I had barely seen his movies. I sensed the excitement — like, that's cool — but he wasn't scary to me. He was merely entertaining and I just wanted to play with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd kind of play with us here and there, and we would cling to his muscles. He'd show his strength and we'd be dangling there. He was incredibly giving. He gifted all the students in the classroom a personal stereo, which at the time was like an iPhone. This was the must-have gadget, that iconic bright yellow cassette player. I played the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. I also received a authentic coach's whistle. He had the teacher's whistle, and the kids all were gifted copies as well. Do you remember your days on set as being fun? You know, it's funny, that movie became a phenomenon. It was such a big movie, and it was such an amazing experience, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of collaborating with Schwarzenegger, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a finitely child 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 smallest kid and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I knew how, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all childhood recollections. The Infamous Moment OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember how it happened? Did you grasp the meaning? At the time, I probably didn't know what the word taboo meant, but I realized it got a reaction and it got a big laugh. I was aware it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was humorous. “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 written into the script, but once they had the entire ensemble assembled, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they developed it during shooting and, I suppose 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 paused. She said, "Let me think about it, let me sleep on it" and took a day or two. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she thought it could end up as one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.