The live-action Beauty and the Beast doesn't hit theaters until March 17, but fans have been buzzing about LeFou all week. It all began when director Bill Condon told Attitude magazine that Gaston's sidekick is responsible for the first "exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."
When E! News' Sibley Scoles caught up with Josh Gad on the red carpet at the world premiere, the actor explained why he and Condon wanted to make LeFou more dimensional than he has been in the Oscar-winning animated film. "Here's what I did: I took a character who I thought was incredibly iconic, who was wonderful, but who was a cartoon, and I wanted to expand on it," he said at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. "Bill and I sat down and we talked about how we can build up this character and humanize him a little bit."
"There is a moment at the end of the movie—it's a small moment—but I'm very proud of it," Gad added. "And I know we're very proud of it."
How will fans react to the scene? "I hope it speaks for itself, and I hope that audiences, when they see it, will be very proud," the actor said. "And while it's subtle, I think it's pretty magical."
While Gad was happy to talk about his role in Beauty and the Beast (co-starring Luke Evans as Gaston, Dan Stevens as Beast and Emma Watson as Belle), the actor was tight-lipped when Scoles asked about the upcoming Frozen sequel. "I feel like all the Disney lawyers are around. It's definitely the wrong place to say anything," joked Gad, who voices Olaf. "I'll call you later!"
If anyone can understand the need for secrecy, it's Daisy Ridley. For weeks, Gad has been hounding his co-star on the set of Murder on the Orient Express, begging her to share Star Wars: The Last Jedi spoilers. Gad even recruited Penélope Cruz, J.J. Abrams, Judi Dench, Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt and Colin Trevorrow for assistance, but Ridley resisted their charms.
As Gad told E! News Thursday, he's "absolutely not" done pestering Ridley for plot details. "Until I know exactly what happens in The Last Jedi, she's not off the hook," he said. "I'm going to keep finding people to harass her. It's very hard to follow up with the last group that I did. I have a call into Mark Hamill—maybe Harrison Ford. We'll see who we're going to get next."
For more from the Beauty and the Beast premiere, watch E! News tonight at 7 and 11.