That Time Brad Pitt Trained For Fight Club In His Garage, And Neighbor Elvira ‘Almost Fainted’ Watching Him
Neighbors can be a tricky thing. Let's be honest, life can become complicated when two separate worlds collide in close living proximity. However, this is not true when it comes to Elvira performer (and hopeful Netflix collaborator) Cassandra Peterson and her former neighbor, Brad Pitt. Peterson recently shared some juicy details about her time living next door to the Hollywood heartthrob in the mid-90s. This included a memorable encounter that involved her seeing Pitt training for Fight Club in his garage, to which she hilariously says she “almost fainted.”
The Mistress of the Dark recounted selling her mansion to the Babylon actor in 1994 but found herself living next door to him soon after. According to Peterson, he was a “wonderful” neighbor and, on one particular day, the horror movie host almost passed out while walking her dogs after catching a glance at the star getting in shape for one of his most iconic films. She told People:
One time I was walking down the street looking like a hag because I’d just gotten out of the shower. I was in a rush to get somewhere, so I ran my dogs down the street for a quick walk, and I go past Brad’s garage and he’s in there wearing only sweatpants and punching. He’s doing a punching bag. He’s got on boxing gloves and he is punching a bag.
She says coming face-to-face with the actor’s stunning good looks caused her to become overwhelmed and tongue-tied. The actress and author continued:
He was getting ready to do the movie Fight Club! He’s in there and I really — I swear I almost fainted. I remember he goes, ‘Hey, how are you?’ and I’m like, ‘Huh.’ I couldn’t talk. I was turning red. I felt like I was fainting. He’s just so stunningly, stunningly handsome — and nice, to top it off.
Brad Pitt wasn’t just eye candy, either. The way the Elvira performer tells it, he is also a very generous human being. During her interview, Cassandra Peterson added that Pitt was “always kind and sweet,” He even allowed a neighbor to live on the property he purchased from her for free up until the man was 105. Cassandra Peterson jokingly added:
[He] just kept living forever. I imagine Brad was thinking well, you know, he can live there till he dies, which might be any minute now.
The A-lister has continued to be a heartthrob even into middle age. Most recently, the actor went shirtless for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Although the director recently revealed when the time came for the star to take off his shirt, during a scene when his character, Cliff Booth, is fixing a TV antenna on a roof, Pitt took the opportunity to throw some sass at him, saying “‘Really? You want me to go through all that button bullshit?” Pitt might be a good neighbor, but it seems he has no problem giving some of the biggest Hollywood auteurs a bit of sarcasm!
Cassandra Peterson continued in her interview by saying one of her biggest regrets while living next to the Hollywood icon was having to decline a dinner invitation from him and his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie. However, she says that living next to the Bullet Train star was a great experience, even jokingly adding that she was often on the “lookout” for him, but he eventually put up hedges around the property, robbing the community of his awe-inspiring good looks.
Fans of the one-time neighbors can check out Peterson’s first iconic cinematic outing, Elvira, The Mistress of Darkness, now streaming with a Prime Video subscription. And those pining to see Pitt shirtless can rewatch Fight Club using a Hulu subscription. And if you're in search of newer cinematic fare, check out our schedule of 2023 new movie releases to plan your next trip to the cinema.
