PBSA valiant attempt indeed, Sir Ian McKellen, but no amount of sorcery or powerful, mind-manipulated magnets can stop Cookie Monster from doing what he was made to do.
The 75-year-old British actor, who plays the wizard Gandalf in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings films and the mutant Magneto in the X-Men movies, appears in a new Sesame Street video, in which he defines for the beloved character a word that goes against his very nature: "Resist."
The video was posted on Sesame Street's official YouTube page on Tuesday, a day before the third and final The Hobbit movie, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, was released.
The furry, blue, googly-eyed critter, who calls himself Sir Cookie Monster, appears enthusiastic about learning what "resist" means but says he doesn't "really understand" it after McKellen explains it to him.
"Well, Cookie Monster, say there was something you really loved and it pulled you towards it like some sort of powerful magnet," he says. "If you were able to control yourself and not go near it, you would resist it."
Cookie Monster is still confused. McKellen then presents a key memento from The Hobbit and incorporates a fitting analogy in another attempt to explain the word, failing again. He then presents Cookie Monster's favorite thing in the world, a cookie, chocolate chip-flavored and larger than his hand, and holds it right in front of his face.
"Now you speaking me language!" he exclaims.
McKellen describes the cookie in a way that will make you wonder why he doesn't have his own Food Network show and continues to hold it in front of Cookie Monster, who's going absolutely insane and voices his regret over volunteering to "help with word" that day.
"OK, OK, in name of vocabulary, me stop meself and me resist the cookie," he says.
"Splendid," replies the actor.
...as he continues to display the cookie near Cookie Monster's face for another 30 seconds.
Watch the video to find out if Cookie Monster resisted his natural craving or, well, crumbled.
In 2013, another British actor, Thor and The Avengers star, Tom Hiddleston, also used a cookie to teach taunt Cookie Monster during a lesson in what he called "delayed gratification."