Melissa Joan Hart, a name synonymous with '90s television and her portrayal of the iconic teenage witch Sabrina, catapulted to fame with the 1996-2003 Sabrina the Teenage Witch series, after her early success with Nickelodeon's Clarissa Explains It All. While acting was her first inroad into Hollywood, it's actually directing that has kept her busy these last few years. "I got my DGA {Directors Guild of America} card when I was about 21, 22 years old. I just love it. I directed a bunch of Young Sheldon episodes and I've done The Goldbergs, ICarly, and a bunch of Christmas movies. I do a lot of the true crime Lifetime stuff too and people are like,'Where have you been?' The answer is 'Behind the camera, a lot.'"
Now she's also behind the microphone. Launched in January of 2022, the popular "What Women Binge" podcast is Hart's latest project. "I felt like when I would go on these talk shows, I would get about three and half minutes to dive into everything, and the first thing they wanted to know is something about my past, about Sabrina or Clarissa, and how I started in the business. Then they'd get into whatever we are there to promote. It felt like I was always rushed to get all this information out. It was always the same. I like the idea of sitting with someone and getting to know them better," says Hart.
And that's exactly what she does with her co-host and friend, Amanda Lee and their celebrity guests. Guests have included Rita Moreno, Jason Priestley, Gary Sinise, Mario Lopez, Lacey Chabert, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Hart's former Sabrina co-star, Caroline Rhea, to name just a few. At almost 120 episodes under their belt, Hart says it was a lot of hard work in the beginning. "Doing research, getting the guests and then scheduling people. I'd love to have Barbara Eden on. My brain is always working to try and find guests, especially Nashville people who can come into our studio."
Hart relocated to Nashville about three years ago. "I’m from New York, lived in Los Angeles for 15 years, lived in Connecticut for 12, lived in Tahoe for two. I love moving around like that, but it's really hard on the kids and the family. I am also very much like 'I want a routine' even though my life’s not routine. I would have stayed in Connecticut for forever I think, if my husband hadn’t been so adamant about getting back to the south." (Hart's husband, Mark Wilkerson, is originally from Alabama and owns BFT Brentwood gym.) Hart continues, "I enjoy it here. It's a great town. I have never seen so many concerts. In my entire life, I haven’t seen as many concerts as I’ve seen in the last year." She adds, "When we first moved here, everyone was telling me we had to go to Puckett's. We went one night and there was a band playing, and it was so great to see. I just loved that, and we loved going down to downtown Franklin. I love the restaurants around there too."
As we eagerly anticipate what's next for Melissa Joan Hart, we'll be listening.
YouTube.com/@MelissaJoanHartOfficial
@whatwomenbinge
"I didn’t even really understand podcasts for a very long time. I loved Dax Shepard’s podcast and loved his format of just talking to celebrities and friends they had in their circle and just diving a little deeper."
"We want to have Nashville people on as we love being in our studio, and people love the dynamic of having someone in-studio, and putting on a cup of coffee while chatting about all of the things they are in to."
