I'm Known As the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: A Candid Conversation.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is best known as an action movie legend. Yet, during the peak of his blockbuster fame in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. A prime example is Kindergarten Cop, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this holiday season.
The Film and That Line
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger portrays a undercover cop who goes undercover as a elementary educator to track down a criminal. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a basic structure for Schwarzenegger to have charming moments with his young class. The most unforgettable features a child named Joseph, who spontaneously stands up and states the actor, “Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.” Arnold deadpans, “Thank you for that information.”
The boy behind the line was portrayed by youth performer Miko Hughes. In addition to this part featured a character arc on Full House as the bully to the Olsen twins and the haunting part of the youngster who comes back in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He still works in film today, with a slate of movies listed on his IMDb. Additionally, he engages with fans at the con circuit. Recently recalled his memories from the production over three decades on.
Memories from the Set
Question: Starting off, 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.
That's impressive, I can't remember being four. Do you remember anything from that time?
Yeah, a little bit. They're flashes. They're like picture memories.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My mother, mainly would accompany me to auditions. Often it was like a cattle call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, be seen, be in there briefly, read a small part they wanted and then leave. My parents would coach me on the dialogue and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.
Do you have any recollection of meeting Arnold? What was your feeling about him?
He was extremely gentle. He was enjoyable. He was pleasant, which I suppose isn't too surprising. 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 a joy to have on set.
“It would be strange 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 never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — like, that's cool — but he didn't frighten me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was occupied, of course, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd tense up and we'd be holding on. He was really, really generous. He purchased for each child in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was the hottest tech. It was the coolest device, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for a long time on that thing. It finally gave out. 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 time filming as being positive?
You know, it's funny, that movie was this cultural thing. It was such a big movie, and it was an incredible opportunity, and you would think, in retrospect, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, working with [director] Ivan Reitman, visiting Astoria, being on a professional set, 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 meat from the top. Then, the Nintendo Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was quite skilled. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would hand me their devices to pass certain levels on games because I was able to, and I was really proud of that. So, it's all youthful anecdotes.
The Line
OK, the penis and vagina line, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?
At the time, I likely didn't understand what the word taboo 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 an exception in this case because it was funny.
“It was a difficult decision for her.”
How it was conceived, based on what I was told, was they didn't have specific roles. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the kids together, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, I suppose the filmmakers came to my mom and said, "There's a concept. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "I need to consider this, I need time" and took some time. It was a tough call for her. She said she had doubts, but she felt it could end up as one of the most memorable lines from the movie and she was right.