A NINETIES child star looked completely unrecognisable as she went make-up free for her new role.
The actress, now 48, is known for her role on a Nickelodeon series which rocketed to fame in both the UK and US.
Melissa Joan Hart quickly became a household name when she transformed into Sabrina The Teenage Witch from 1996.
The series, which captured Sabrina discovering she was a teenage witch and being guided spiritually by her two aunts, ran for seven seasons.
She was seen with mid-length blonde hair and fresh-faced for her role – which regularly saw her cuddling cat Salem.
Yet the New York-born star looks completely different for her role on a Lifetime TV series.
Melissa posted a video promoting her new series, The Bad Guardian.
Show producers have teased the programme as ” the story of one woman’s fight to save her father from a court-appointed guardian”.
Melissa plays the character of Leigh, whose father suffers a fall when she is out of town.
For the character, Melissa looked unrecognisable as she pulled on the chunky knit cardigan and perched a pair of sunglasses on her head.
She tied her hair into a low bun and showed off a cut at the side of her head as well as a black eye, which she said she has “for half the movie”.
At the end of her video, she finished off with a dance with her co-star.
One fan was quick to gush: “So cute at the end!”
Another put: “Lol that dance though awesome.”
Previously, Melissa told how she was almost sacked from iconic TV series Sabrina after stripping for a saucy magazine shoot.
RACY RISK
Melissa recently recalled to the Christian Post: “My lawyer shows up and goes, ‘You did a photoshoot for Maxim magazine?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, I did.’
“They’re like, ‘Well, you’re being sued and fired from your show, so don’t talk to the press. Don’t do anything’.”
a clause in her contract prohibited the use of her character’s name.
However, she kept her job after writing a grovelling apology letter which the show’s producers then accepted.
Melissa Joan Hart career timeline highlights
MELISSA Joan Hart is a TV favourite - here we see some of her career history
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch: 1996 – 2003
- Sabrina Goes To Rome: 1998
- Melissa and Joey: 2010 -2015
- Clarissa Explains It All: 1991 – 1994
- Drive Me Crazy: 1999
- No Good Nick: 2019
- The Bad Gentleman: 2024
Yet Melissa has now completely re-vamped her life, living life as a born-again Christian.
She deepens her faith by praying every day.
The Bad Guardian actress opened up to the same publication about the revelation, which came “like a lightning bolt” during her Bible Study class.
One day, we were in Bible study and it just hit, like the Holy Spirit made sense to me all of a sudden!
Melissa Joan Hart
Melissa said: “I did have a born again, Holy Spirit moment.
“I never really understood the Holy Spirit or the Trinity in a sense.
“One day, we were in Bible study and it just hit, like the Holy Spirit made sense to me all of a sudden!
“I just felt it and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the Holy Spirit talking to me. I get it now.’
“Like a lightning bolt just hit me and I was like, ‘The Holy Spirit!’
“I don’t know why it just hit me and I got it. Then I better understood the Trinity and all that.”
