Just 20 years after playing Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Melissa Joan Hart is now a grandma — on TV, that is. The 47-year-old actor stars in her new Lifetime movie Will You Kill for Me? ” plays a grandmother. Mary Bailey's Story , and while fans were upset and distressed by this development, Hart had one of the wittiest responses to the outcry.
In the film, based on a true story, Hart plays Ella, the grandmother of 11-year-old Mary Bailey who was asked by her mother, Priscilla Wiles, to kill her stepfather in 1987.
The movie was released in October, but footage of Hart cooking a Thanksgiving turkey with her on-screen grandson went viral on social media. "That's perfect, Grandma," her grandson gushed.
The TikTok comments section is packed with people who are absolutely shocked by Hart's aging in the film industry. "I feel attacked! I'm pretty sure she's the same age as me," one person wrote. "Did that little girl just ask Clarissa to explain everything 'Grandma'?" another asked in disbelief.
One fan couldn't believe it. "We don't subscribe to MJH as grandma! Every 90 year old kid will sign," they wrote.
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) also felt personally attacked over Hart's casting. "Who does Melissa Joan Hart play???" one user asked. One fan wrote, "Melissa Joan Hart is four years older than me and has to play grandma so I just have to lie down for a minute." Another fan wrote, "Someone hug me, I'm not feeling well Comfortable."
One fan decided to punish the person who sent the video, the one who shared it. They wrote: "Whoever put this clip of Melissa Joan Hart playing Grandma in an iconic movie on my timeline: I hope you fall madly in love with someone who suffers from chronic night sweats. "
Hart's response to protests
Hart responded to the backlash in an Instagram post, saying she was moved by fans' outrage.
"While I'm proud of my performance in the recent film #WouldYouKillForMe, I'm humbled that people don't recognize me as a grandmother (however possible at 47 years old)," she wrote.
“It’s also refreshing that my work is going viral, rather than being controversial.”
She ended her message with a subtle nod to "Sabrina" and her first breakout show, "Clarissa Explains Everything ," joking, " I guess now Clarissa explains AARP or plays A middle-aged witch.”
