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Melissa Joan Hart played the titular character in Clarissa Explains It All from 1991 to 1994
Casting directors for the show were originally seeking a brunette for the lead, but Hart’s charm convinced them otherwise
The Nickelodeon series was the network’s first to center around a female lead
Melissa Joan Hart left an imprint on the ’90s as Clarissa Darling.
Clarissa Explains It All debuted on March 23, 1991, on Nickelodeon, marking the first time the network took a chance on a female-led series as it sought to expand beyond its game show-based reputation.
During an appearance at Tampa Bay Comic Con in August 2025, Hart revealed she almost didn’t get the role because, “With Clarissa, I was auditioning for that part, and they really didn’t want a blonde.”
“They said, ‘We do not want a blonde for this part.’ That was their big thing. The executive producer was like, ‘I cannot have a blonde play this smart girl.’ But someone had seen me, I was doing a Broadway play at the time,” she shared.
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The cast of “Clarissa Explains It All”
Credit: United Archives GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
Hart recalled that the producer’s veterinarian had seen the show and mentioned her for the part. “He let me come and audition and then he just kept liking my audition, and I went back three times. At one point, he asked me, ‘Are you a fan of New Kids on the Block.’ They were big at the time. I said, ‘Uh, I hate them,’ ” she recalled.
“And then I was like, ‘Oh no! He’s in the industry. He probably knows them.’ I think I was like 13,” she laughed. “I was like, ‘He probably knows them, and he’s probably their uncle. I definitely didn’t get this part.’ “
But what she thought would cost her the role actually worked in her favor. “It turned out he really liked that I didn’t like the trendy boy band that was big at the moment,” she noted.
“He asked who I liked, and I said They Might Be Giants, and that was a little off the cuff. I don’t even think he knew who they were. That’s their poster on the wall in Clarissa’s room. I had to convince him I was cool. I had to convince the showrunner that I was cool enough to play Clarissa, and once I did that, he trusted me with other choices for her.”
On Feb. 1, 2026, at Steven Tyler’s 7th Annual Jam for Janie Grammy Awards Viewing Party, Hart chatted with PEOPLE about how growing up on television shaped her life.
“I think it gave me a good work ethic,” she reflected. “I think it helped me kind of grow up quickly, learn some things about myself in the world, take care of myself and but also, in that way, it kind of stunted my growth in other ways, socially.”
Clarissa Explains It All set Hart on the path to stardom. But despite spending much of her childhood on sets, her family worked hard to make sure she didn’t “miss out on” being a kid. She thanked her parents — producer Paula Hart and actor William Hart — for that.
“I pretty much had a normal childhood, even though I was acting since I was 4. So I don’t regret anything,” she revealed. “I think my family did a really good job…I was in Girl Scouts, and we would go on family ski trips and things like that. So there was a lot of normal mixed up with this weird, crazy world.”
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