Sabrina the Teenage Witch's Beth Broderick 'inch' away from alligator bite on set

Beth Broderick said she was an 'inch' away from being being bitten by an alligator when she had to walk the reptile on a leash for an episode of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch'

Beth Broderick has revealed she was a mere "inch" away from being chomped by an alligator on set.

The 65-year-old actress, famed for her role as Aunt Zelda on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, recounted how during the filming of an episode that required her to lead the scaly creature with a leash, the crew spurred the seemingly sluggish animal into a frenzy trying to make it move. In a twist of fortune, the alligator lashed out and bit a sofa instead of Beth.

Speaking to People, she recalled the terrifying moment saying: "And the people didn't think the alligator was moving enough, and it didn't look real enough." She added: "It was very real, and so they started poking it, and it got mad, and it whipped around and missed me by an inch and bit the sofa and wouldn't let go."

Beth reflected humorously: "I was like okay, that could be my leg. Okay, let's not poke the alligator anymore." Yet this wasn't the sole extraordinary animal escapade on set.

Among other wild anecdotes, Beth shared another gem where a costumer wrestled with a chicken to deck it out in formal attire: "I was walking from my trailer to the set one day and I hear this crazy commotion in the costume room, and I look in, and our costumer Diane is trying to measure a chicken for a tuxedo, and that chicken did not want to wear a tuxedo.

"It was just the funniest thing I've ever seen. And I just thought to myself, who else goes to work and sees that?" She added: "I mean, that is kind of a singular experience. And it ended up wearing that tuxedo, it did it. But I don't think he liked it."

These days, studios rely on technology such as CGI for these kinds of scenes, but Beth said they had more fun making "magic out of thin air". She said: "It was a wild show. You had to shoot everything in real time and practical effects and stuff.

"It was quite an experience and one you can never forget. That's the way the show was, you made magic out of mole hills … made magic out of thin air."

After Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Beth kept her acting dream alive by going on to star in several movies and TV shows. Her repertoire of work includes titles such as Timber Falls, Lost and Under the Dome. She starred alongside Melissa again in 2014 for an episode of Melissa & Joey and she also reprised her role as Zelda for two episodes of the Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina on Netflix in 2020.

Outside of the acting world, Beth is the founder of Momentum, a New York based organisation that helps AIDS sufferers. She has written three plays, A Cup of Joe, Wonderland and Literatti, and is married to Scott Paetty since 2005.

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