Watch Sir Ian McKellen Teach Cookie Monster How To Resist His Cookie Urges

Since we can all use a little resistance once in a while, Sir Ian McKellan stopped by Sesame Street to teach the word “resist” to the kids at home with the help of Cookie Monster. However, the blue-haired puppet was not very familiar with the term.

“The word resist means to control yourself and stop yourself from doing something you really want to do,” Sir Ian explains.

But when Cookie Monster continues to struggle with the concept, the actor, in his attempt to exemplify the meaning, plays on his Gandalf role in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and pulled out a “precious” golden ring from his pocket.

“Say there was a golden ring, and you really really wanted this golden ring, it was like your precious. You want this ring so badly that if you were able to control yourself and not go near the ring you would resist it,” expounds Sir McKellan.

Of course, Cookie Monster, being a cookie monster, did not grasp the concept until he was confronted with a giant chocolate chip cookie… and we can easily guess how it eventually turned out.

Sir Ian makes his final performance as the wizard Gandalf in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, currently playing in theaters.