Fans of Melissa Joan Hart are used to seeing the “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” alum in light, comedic fare.
However, an upcoming project will provide the actress an opportunity to delve into her dark side to portray a character unlike any she’s played before.
‘The Black Widow’
According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Hart is returning to Lifetime to star in a new movie.
This time, she’ll be playing real-life serial killer Judy Buenoano, who came to be known as “The Black Widow” before being found guilty of multiple murders and executed in 1998 via electric chair after spending more than a decade on Death Row.
As THR reports, Hart will be star and executive producer of the network’s upcoming true-crime movie, which has the working title of “Black Widow Killer: The Judy Buenoano Story.”
The film will appear during Lifetime’s annual “Ripped From the Headlines” roster of true-crime movies. Co-starring with Hart will be Chris Bauer (“True Blood,” “The Wire”) as Detective Chamberlain and Matthew Settle (“Gossip Girl,” “Band of Brothers”) as Buenoano’s fiancé, John Gentry.
“Set in the 1970s and 1980s, ‘Black Widow Killer: The Judy Buenoano Story’ is based on the true story of Judy Buenoano (Hart), a successful Florida salon owner and mother whose carefully cultivated image begins to crack after her latest fiancé, John Gentry (Settle), survives a car bombing,” the synopsis reads.
“As Detective Chamberlain (Bauer) and his partner, Detective Steele (Cronin Cullen, ‘The Equalizer’), investigate the attempted murder, they uncover a disturbing pattern surrounding the deaths of those closest to Judy. As the investigation delves deeper into her past, mounting evidence raises a troubling question: are these tragedies simply a series of coincidences — or part of a calculated plan?” the synopsis adds.
The film is scheduled to premiere on Saturday, January 23, 2027, on Lifetime.
Spreading Her Wings on Lifetime
This marks the latest made-for-TV Lifetime movie for Hart, who’s appeared in several Christmas movies for the network, including the likes of “The Santa Con,” “A Very Nutty Christmas,” “Mistletoe in Montana,” “Once Upon the Main Street,” “Santa Bootcamp and a few others.
However, she’s also branched out into more dramatic fare, starring in such Lifetime thrillers as “The Bad Guardian,” “Dirty Little Secret,” and “Would You Kill For Me? The Mary Bailey Story.”
In that latter movie, which arrived in 2023, Hart portrayed a grandmother — even though she was only 47 years old at the time.
Fans took to social media en masse to express their incredulity that Hart could portray a grandma, something she addressed in an Instagram post.
“Let me explain….” she began.
“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 added.
“I guess now Clarissa can Explain AARP or play the Middle-Aged Witch,” she jokingly concluded.
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Melissa Joan Hart Reveals Shocking Departure with Chilling New Role