Edward Norton remembered his Fight Club co-star Meat Loaf on social media Friday following news of the Bat Out of Hell singer’s death at the age of 74.
In one of the 1999 cult film’s opening scenes, Norton’s character is shown being enthusiastically hugged by Meat Loaf’s “Bob,” a fellow support group attendee.
“I don’t keep pictures from films around home. But I have this one in my office in a frame bc it makes me smile every time,” Norton tweeted Friday alongside a still of his character being smothered by Bob’s “bitch tits.” “It’s engraved ‘Love and Hugs, Meat’ it sums him up well. He was so funny. And gentle. And warm to everyone. A sweet soul. RIP Meat Loaf.”
I don’t keep pictures from films around home. But I have this one in my office in a frame bc it makes me smile every time. It’s engraved ‘Love and Hugs, Meat’ it sums him up well. He was so funny. And gentle. And warm to everyone. A sweet soul. RIP Meat Loaf pic.twitter.com/aMrIgXByEc
— Edward Norton (@EdwardNorton) January 21, 2022
Outside of Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fight Club is perhaps Meat Loaf’s most enduring film role. In addition to that early scene, his Bob — or Robert Paulson, as his fellow Fight Clubbers chant following his character’s death — is among the combatants in the titular fight club, as well as a participant in the film’s anarchic Project Mayhem.
“To us he will always be ‘Bob,’” Norton added. “Those were some wonderful months of laughter & irreverence. The hardest thing about working w/ Meat was getting through any of these ridiculous moments without cracking up. Him lying on the table playing dead then belting out Zeppelin. Good times.”
Following Meat Loaf’s death Friday, Cher, Brian May, Alice Cooper, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and more also paid tribute to the legendary singer who dubbed himself “the Robert De Niro of rock.”