(CNN) Ian McKellen thinks controversy surrounding the inclusion of a gay character in Disney's live-action "Beauty and the Beast" is "rubbish."

"People who don't like the idea of gay characters appearing in fairy stories should think what they would think if they were gay themselves and why should they be excluded?" McKellen told CNN at the film's New York premiere Monday.

Actor Josh Gad's character in the film, LeFou, briefly dances with another male character at the end of the movie. The moment prompted Russia to restrict children under 16 from seeing "Beauty and the Beast" and one drive-in-theater in Alabama not to screen it.

But McKellen, who plays Cogsworth in the movie, said the scene is not "revolutionary."

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