Melissa Joan Hart, 47, addressed backlash over her new movie role as … a grandmother

Melissa Joan Hart, 47, is "explaining it all" to fans who decried her role as grandmother in a new movie.

"Let me explain," the actor and mother of three, wrote on Instagram. "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."

"I guess now Clarissa can Explain AARP or play the Middle-Aged Witch," Hart joked, referring to her starring roles on "Clarissa Explains It All" (1991 to 1994) and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" (1996 to 2003).

In the Lifetime original movie, "Would You Kill For Me? The Mary Bailey Story," which is based on true events, Hart plays a character named Ella, whose granddaughter is accused of killing her abusive stepfather.

The film premiered in October, but one scene in which Hart is called “Grandma," has TikTok fans who grew up watching her play a teenager, spinning.

"I'm convinced that we are living in the upside down," wrote one TikToker. "Sabrina is still a teen!!!"

"'Clarissa is playing a grandmother," exclaimed another TikToker. "Clarissa, who explained it all to us, is a grandmother. You know what? That's it. I'm done ... Let's get on a porch in a muumuu, yelling at teenagers to get off my porch ... I'm spiraling."

"I swear, the 90s feels like it was just yesterday," said another.

In Hollywood, female actors are often skipped over for younger counterparts or are cast as much older characters.

In 2015, when Anne Hathaway was 32, she told Glamour UK, "I can’t complain about it because I benefited from it. When I was in my early twenties, parts would be written for women in their fifties and I would get them. And now I’m in my early thirties and I’m like, ‘Why did that 24 year old get that part?’"

And in the 2014 film "Tammy," Susan Sarandon played a grandmother to Melissa McCarthy's character, being only 24 years her senior, reported Vulture.

The annual "It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World" report published by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, analyzes the depiction of girls and women in the top 100 national grossing films since 2002.

According to the 2022 report:

• "Female characters remained younger than their male counterparts, with the percentage of women in their 40s dropping from 20% in 2015 to 14% in 2022."

• "The majority of female characters were in their 20s and 30s (56%), while the majority of male characters were in their 30s and 40s (59%). Male characters were more likely than females to be 40 or over (53% males, 29% females)."

• There were more male characters than female characters aged 60 and over. 7% of female and 9% of male characters were in their 60s or older."

It's true that grandmothers are getting younger by the day — ask Rosario Dawson, 44, will become a “Glamma" in 2024, she recently told Page Six. “It’s very exciting,” said Dawson of her daughter Isabella's pregnancy.

According to the AARP, women, on average become first-time grandmas at age 50. All the glory to women rocking the Nana title — but give our teenage hearts time to adjust!

Melissa Joan Hart is not a grandmother, but she is a mom: Hart has three sons with her husband Mark Wilkerson, a musician whom she married in 2003. Here’s everything to know about Hart's kids.

Mason Walter Wilkerson

Hart's firstborn son Mason was born on January 11, 2006.

“He was a little stubborn [coming out], but all is well … Everyone is well and we are all relieved,” said Hart, according to People.

In 2022, Hart told the outlet that Mason was learning to drive — which was “really upsetting" though on the bright side, he could shuttle his younger brothers around. “It’s great because it’s super helpful,” she said.

Mason also navigates a bigger machine in the sky.

“He’s a pilot also, so he flies planes,” Hart told People in the interview. “I know he has a respect for engineering and machinery. So that helps. The younger two I’m more afraid of driving. But it’s just a loss of — It’s a loss of their childhood when they start driving, which is weird.”

At the time, she said Mason was more interested in sports than girls.

“I like that,” she said. “He’s sort of navigating it now. But he wants to focus on football, so he doesn’t want … anything to distract him from that. That’s the way my husband grew up as well. I don’t know if it’s hereditary or he saw it from dad. They also have big cousins that are teenagers that are in [their] college years and they watch that. They kind of pay attention to them and learn from them.”

Braydon Hart Wilkerson

Hart’s second son Braydon was born on March 12, 2008.

“This has been a long but exciting pregnancy, and we along with Mason are excited to add to the Wilkerson clan,” Hart said, according to People. Wilkerson added: “Melissa and I are the proudest parents ever and this is the best thing that has happened to us this year!”

In March 2020, when Braydon turned 12, Hart posted childhood photos of her middle child with a sweet birthday message.

“Exactly 12 years ago at this moment a ray of light and God’s love starting breathing for the first time!” she wrote on Facebook. “My sweet boy, my buddy, my ray of sunshine, my goofy man, my creative nonconformist, my baby Braydon! May God continue to bless you with strength of character, empathy for strangers, easy conversation with neighbors and putting a smile on the faces of those who know you!”

Tucker Wilkerson

Hart’s third son Tucker, was born in September 2012.

“Baby boy Tucker has finally arrived!” she tweeted that year. “We waited all year to meet this lil man & we could not be more excited & relieved that he is in our arms!”

Tucker joined his mom on-screen when he was just 9 months old, on the former sitcom Melissa & Joey. “I couldn’t stay in character! I was watching him like a hawk and forgetting to react as my character would to the situation,” she told People. “It was unnerving. But it was so fun to have him there.”

Hart’s kids like to tease her about her celebrity, she said.

“My kids are always kind of rolling their eyes like, ‘Oh, you just want to show us your movies and your show,” Hart told TODAY.com in June 2023. “I’m proud of some of them!”

Hart told TODAY.com that her sons caught her watching old episodes of “Melissa and Joey” as research for her podcast, “What Women Binge.”

“He sits down, he starts watching and the second episode starts. He keeps watching. Another kid walks in goes, ‘Oh, you’re watching yourself.’ And he’s like, ‘Shut up, it’s really funny!’ And I was like, ‘He likes it! He likes it!’” Hart says, calling it a “proud mom moment.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com