Close Call: Sabrina the Teenage Witch's Star Beth Broderick Narrowly Escapes Alligator Attack on Set!

Beth Broderick recently shared a delightful anecdote about her brush with danger—an alligator, to be precise, and not the typical Hollywood over-exaggeration. The actress, best known for her role as Aunt Zelda on *Sabrina the Teenage Witch*, recounted a moment on set that was only an inch away from resembling a nature documentary turned horror show.

Imagine this: there she is, trying to lead a massive alligator with a leash. Yes, you read that correctly. During the filming of an episode, the crew decided that the alligator was just a tad too lazy for their tastes. In an effort to get it to move, they began poking the creature, which in turn, sparked an entirely forgivable rage in the reptilian star. "It was very real," Beth explained, humor interlaced with her recollection. “And the poor thing whipped around and missed me by an inch, biting the sofa instead and firmly deciding that it would rather have fabric for dinner.”

With a chuckle, she mused: "That could’ve been my leg! Okay, let's not poke the alligator anymore!" It's a sentiment most people might echo when confronted with the potential of becoming an appetizer for something with scales and a penchant for provocation.

But wait. The wild fun didn’t stop there. In a separate episode of her behind-the-scenes adventures, Beth recounted the time a costumer was wrestling with a chicken—yes, a chicken—trying to measure it for a tuxedo. "I was walking from my trailer to the set one day," she remembered, "and I heard this crazy commotion in the costume room." Her description of the scene is vivid: Diane, the costumer, struggling with the feathery creature that clearly had other plans. "It was just the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Who else goes to work and sees that?” One can almost picture the chicken giving the classic side-eye, fully aware of the absurdity of its predicament.

Beth quickly added, “I mean, that is kind of a singular experience. And yes, the chicken ended up in that tuxedo… but I don't think it liked it!”

In today's world, studios prefer to conjure animals' antics through CGI, but Beth emphasized the joy of creating “magic out of thin air” back in those gloriously unpredictable days. "It was wild,” she recalled. “You had to shoot everything in real-time and practical effects. It was an experience you can't forget.” Indeed, there’s something charming about the idea of making magic from *how to catch a chicken dressed for dinner* to coaxing alligators to play nice.

Post-*Sabrina the Teenage Witch*, Beth has kept her passion for acting alive, participating in a medley of movies and TV shows, including *Timber Falls*, *Lost*, and *Under the Dome*. If that weren't enough, she also reunited with Melissa for an episode of *Melissa & Joey* in 2014 and stepped back into her familiar role as Zelda for two episodes of *The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina* on Netflix in 2020.

Apart from her exploits in show business, Beth has a noble side. She founded Momentum, an organization based in New York dedicated to assisting AIDS sufferers. Alongside her charitable work, she penned three plays: *A Cup of Joe*, *Wonderland*, and *Literatti*. And since 2005, she has been happily married to Scott Paetty, proving that sometimes, real-life romances can be just as enchanting as those spun on screen.