As the star of not one but two iconic ’90s teen shows, Melissa Joan Hart was a role model to a generation of girls. Now 48 and a mom of three, the Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch star has established a diverse portfolio as a Christmas movie and true crime star, a director and a philanthropist.
Since 2019, Hart has been an ambassador for World Vision, a long-running Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to helping those who need it most at home and abroad. Hart has been working on the ground for the charity, and she also has a set of friendship bracelets and a scarf available in their annual holiday gift catalog. “Instead of giving people more stuff, I think it’s wonderful to give back and help support people in the world that don’t have as much as we do,” she tells First for Women.
Read on to catch up with Melissa Joan Hart and see what she has to say about her charity work, the enduring appeal of the ’90s and the surprising reason why she was originally skeptical about starring in Christmas movies.
First for Women: What has your involvement with World Vision been like?
Melissa Joan Hart: It’s been really eye-opening and amazing. I started off with sponsoring three girls in Zambia that are similar ages to my three boys, and we had the opportunity to go down and meet them. In 2023, we went back and visited the girls to see how they were doing, and it was just remarkable seeing how much they had grown and the things that they were able to do after just four years. World Vision creates structures that are really sustainable and seeing the complex work they do at all different levels is fascinating.
Recently, my son’s football team worked with World Vision to pack hygiene kits for people in need in the U.S., and they were shipped to Florida in time for Hurricane Milton, so they were ready to go when people needed to flee their homes. It was really inspiring to be able to pack 400 kits and have them be used, and the kids got to give people things that they needed at one of the lowest times of their life.
I find that if you go to galas or fundraisers, you’re not always sure where the money’s going. What I love about being an ambassador is being able to tell people that I’ve seen the change. I’ve seen what World Vision can do and how well thought-out their programs are. I really believe in the work that they’re doing and can advocate for where the money is going.
FFW: You’re embracing the charitable spirit of the holiday season, and you’ve also starred in a number of Christmas movies. What do you love about telling these stories?
MJH: I was a little hesitant about doing Christmas movies in the beginning, because the storylines don’t have a lot of conflict, and you need a lot of conflict for good comedy. My first one was Holiday in Handcuffs in 2007. It blew up, but it was a big, broad comedy. For the genre to take shape after that, I was hesitant to dip into it again, but I’m so glad I did, because it really does give people so much joy and escapism from holiday pressures.
When you’re wrapping presents or cooking you can turn on one of these movies and you know it will have a happy ending. That’s what bothered me at first, because I don’t like predictable endings in movies, but I realized that sometimes people just need a good love story and some hope. That’s what the season should be about.
We always want the holiday to be full of peace and joy but in reality, the holidays can be really hard for a lot of people, whether you lost someone this year or you’re spending it alone or you’re stuck at work. There’s a lot that people go through at this time of year and they want that warm, comfortable blanket and a hot cocoa, and these Christmas movies really give them that.
FFW: You’ve also been in a variety of Lifetime true crime movies recently. What has that experience been like?
MJH: It’s been pretty fun. The one I just completed is wild. It’s based on a true story, but it’s stranger than fiction. It’s been fascinating for me as an actor to study the psychology of people who behave badly and learn why they might act that way. It’s really interesting and it’s actually really fun to play as well. Every once in a while I like to do a Christmas movie where I get to fall in love and eat the Christmas cookies and get the hometown boy, but it’s also great to be the bad guy or be the one solving a crime. It’s been a nice back-and-forth in my career.
FFW: Since the early ’00s, you’ve directed TV episodes and movies. What draws you to going behind the camera?
MJH: I love directing. It fills a void in me and scratches a creative itch. It hasn’t always been easy, because while we have more and more female directors, it’s never actually gotten to be half and half. In the beginning, the opportunities that I was given to direct were only for my own stuff, like if I was going to act in it, maybe I’d get to direct it if I put that in my contract.
Adam Goldberg gave me the chance to direct his show The Goldbergs, and that opened a lot of doors for me. I’ve had the opportunity to do Young Sheldon and iCarly and some shows for Netflix.
The last thing I directed was my movie Santa Bootcamp, starring Rita Moreno and Emily Kinney. We filmed it in Nashville, where I live, so it was nice to work at home and bring some of that beautiful countryside to the film. Working with Rita Moreno, she’s such a role model. She’s a powerhouse. That woman is on her feet in high heels all day remembering her lines, and I think she has better vision than I do. She was 91 when we worked together, and you would have thought she was 60. It was incredible.
FFW: Your work as a teen in Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch still has a devoted fanbase years later. Why do you think ’90s pop culture remains so popular?
MJH: It’s an age of innocence in a sense, and there’s some mystery to it, since it was before social media and smartphones. But I also remember being obsessed with the ’70s in the ’90s. We were all bringing back bell bottoms and scarf tops, and there was a lot of nostalgia for that time. Now it feels like we’re moving into being nostalgic for the ’00s. We’re always nostalgic for 20 years ago, so it’ll be interesting to see if we move away from the ’90s soon or if it’s such a great decade that it lives forever, like the ’20s.
FFW: Sabrina was one of many popular ’90s witches. Why do you think witchy shows are so beloved?
MJH: When you have shows with a magical element, they cross over through the generations. People always want to believe in magic and believe that there’s some easy way to snap your fingers and be somewhere or change your outfit or get that cute boy. Everyone wants that escapism in their entertainment, and it’s the same with holiday movies, because Christmas is all about that Christmas magic. These stories all give people a space to believe that there’s good out there.
