Beauty and the Beast fans were thrilled this week when they learned LeFou, sidekick to villain Gaston, would be the first openly gay character for the live-action version of the film.

Director Bill Condon alluded to “a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie” involving the character. But Josh Gad, the actor who plays LeFou, said that “there was nothing in the script that said ‘LeFou is gay’,” according to USA Today. Condon himself added that his initial comments about LeFou’s sexuality had been “a little overstated.”

“To me, I have to say my heart sinks a little (that we’re talking about this moment),” Condon told USA Today. “I like the idea of it coming as this surprise, and I hope people don’t know where it’s coming.”

The two were together recently for the film’s premiere in Hollywood.

“What was most important to me was taking a character that is wonderful and so iconic, but is defined by cartoon conceits in the (original) movie… and expanding on that, giving him dimension, making him human,” Gad told USA Today.

The live-action film arrives in movie theaters March 17.

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Zamira Rahim at zamira.rahim@time.com.