Fans struggled to the news when they learned that actress Melissa Joan Hart — best known as “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” — had been cast as a grandmother in an upcoming ripped-from-the-headlines movie from Lifetime.
The film in question — ‘Would You Kill For Me?: The Mary Bailey Story‘ — is loosely based on the true story of Mary Bailey, whose mother asked her at age 11 to shoot her abusive stepfather. Hart plays Mary’s grandmother, Ella, and mother to Veronica — who gave birth to Mary when she was just 16.
But fans weren’t quite ready to picture Hart, 47, as a grandma — and they took to social media to voice their opinions on the subject.
“MISERY LOVES COMPANY,” one woman posted on X. “I present, Melissa Joan Hart as granny!”
I made it all so much worse. In my head I thought, "Wasn't she just in a holiday romcom with Mario Lopez a hot minute ago?" Holiday in Handcuffs came out in 2007.
It got worser
— Virginia Brasch (@Virginia_Brasch) December 13, 2023
“I made it all so much worse. In my head I thought, ‘Wasn’t she just in a holiday romcom with Mario Lopez a hot minute ago?” she continued, adding, “‘Holiday in Handcuffs’ came out in 2007. It got worser.”
“I need to go tell my husband that his childhood crush is a grandma. There’s no reason I should suffer alone,” another said.
“Melissa Joan Hart is ‘Grandma’ in a Lifetime movie and y’all just gonna let this happen,” another posted.
“Whoever just put a clip of Melissa Joan Hart playing a grandma in a hallmark movie on my timeline: I hope you fall madly in love with someone who has chronic night sweats,” came from one more.
Whoever just put a clip of Melissa Joan Hart playing a grandma in a hallmark movie on my timeline: I hope you fall madly in love with someone who has chronic night sweats
— carina adly mackenzie (@cadlymack) December 14, 2023
Hart responded to the furor with a post of her own on Instagram on Friday, captioning a screenshot of an article titled “Melissa Joan Hart Is Playing A Grandma In A Lifetime Movie & People Are NOT Okay.”
“Let me explain ….” Hart began, adding, “While I’m proud of my performance in my most recent movie #WouldYouKillForMe, I couldn’t be more flattered that people don’t think of me as a grandmother (no matter how possible it is at the age of 47).”
“It’s also refreshing to go viral for my work and not something controversial,” she continued.
“I guess now Clarissa can Explain AARP or play the Middle-Aged Witch.”
