AceShowbiz -

Alec Baldwin has weighed in on his on-screen kiss with Russell Brand in "Rock of Ages". Branding the gay kiss scene significant, the Dennis Dupree depicter explained that his lip-lock with Brand was done to add comedy and surprise to the anticipated musical movie.

Discussing the smooch with The Hollywood Reporter, Baldwin said, "It's not like 'Brokeback Mountain', it's not two leading men who you are used to getting down with some gorgeous girl." He added, "It's a little more chaste because I'm older [than Brand]."

"We live in an age, and I'm being imprecise here, where half the country gets it, and the other half doesn't," Baldwin continued, relating the scene to the current socio-political event. "I live where men and women who want to get married - who gives a s***? No one gives it a thought."

"It's like seeing women in power. Or like seeing African American CEOs. We're in a fully realized age of equality in all things and it's not surprising or new," he added. "But there is that other half for whom that is surprising and new. America is still a place where people are fighting these culture wars."

Meanwhile, director Adam Shankman stated that "Rock of Ages" is all about couples who are on their way to find love and not a statement about same sex marriage. He added that Baldwin's Dupree and Brand's Lonny Barnett are just one of those couples. "The truth is, when we were making it, that wasn't what was in our heads," he said. "But it's being legitimized by what is happening now. It makes it more relevant and underlines it."

Also starring Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Malin Akerman and Mary J. Blige, "Rock of Ages" has just been premiered in the U.K. on Sunday, June 10. It is slated for a June 15 release in cinemas across the United States.