Fans know Melissa Joan Hart from the 1996 series Sabrina The Teenage Witch, where she played Sabrina Spellman alongside Caroline Rhea, Jenna Leigh Green, Michelle Beaudoin, and others. After the popular show ended in 2003, Hart took on more roles in Melissa & Joey, No Good Nick, God’s Not Dead 2, and a few more films.
More recently, she plays Leigh Delgado in a Lifetime TV film titled The Bad Guardian, and viewers can hardly recognize her. Hart teased the show multiple times on her social media ahead of its premiere on May 18, with movie posters and behind-the-scenes snaps.
Melissa Joan Hart looks so different in new film
Hart’s appearance as Leigh, who fights “to save her father from a court-appointed guardian,” is a far cry from what her fans are used to. Photos feature her in a simple bun hairstyle, minimal makeup, and some facial injuries. She shared a video during filming as she chatted to the camera in green knit cardigan over a white T-shirt, noting that her black eye was for half the story.
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Her new role is also something for fans to rave about as they await a promised reboot of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, as revealed by Hart in 2022. She gave a glimpse into the plot, hinting that the original characters will likely be married and have children with special powers, “and then the great aunts come along.”
‘The Bad Guardian’
Starring alongside Hart is La La Anthony, who plays the guardian named Janet to Luis Bordonada’s Jason after he suffers a bad fall. Hart’s character is tasked with saving Jason from Janet, who turns out to have evil intentions. The film is reportedly a nod to pop singer Britney Spears and TV personality Wendy Williams, who have been caught up in controversial conservatorships.
Hart revealed that The Bad Guardian seeks to address the corruption within guardian#ship procedures as she “was just fascinated to learn all this and to see how people would struggle with this.” She noted that Britney and Wendy are “high-profile women” with the means to fight against exploitative guardians, however her character had no status like most people in the same situation. She hopes victims can learn a thing or two from the film and “find some information to find a way out of it.”