‘Killing the Competition’: Melissa Joan Hart Opens Up About Playing Witchy Mom

Melissa Joan Hart takes a witchy turn in Killing the Competition, the upcoming Lifetime thriller inspired by actual events. The star plays Elizabeth Fenwick as a helicopter mom (or lawnmower mom) who looks to relive the glory days of high school through daughter Grace (Lily Brooks O’Briant). When Grace doesn’t initially make the same competitive dance team she was on, it triggers Elizabeth to take action. 

Things unravel from there when Elizabeth lets her obsession in Grace’s life fully takes hold. She spirals going after her teen’s boyfriend Tyler (Lucas Randazzo) and friend on the dance team Hannah (Valerie Loo). This descent into madness leads to a shocking kidnapping that brings her to the point of no return. 

Here Hart, who also executive produces the project with her company Hartbreak Films, opens up about diving into this ‘juicy’ role. 

Valerie Loo and Melissa Joan Hart in Killing the Competition. (Lifetime)

You’re a mom of three boys. Where did you draw inspiration for this role of Elizabeth? 

Melissa Joan Hart: It’s interesting because it was not a role I was super into at first. It seemed like the story had been told before. The mom of a cheerleader who wants better for her daughter and that kind of thing. Then the more we dug in and layered in some fun stuff, I started to get into playing this character. It’s based on a true crime, so it’s absurd there. And then you layer in all the things that this woman does. There is also this angle where you can also relate. I have three teenage boys, so to relate to a teenager and the emotions that come up as a mom. When they are teens, they may start moving out of the house and not need you as much anymore. You’re starting to not have your baby wanting to give you hugs and kisses and tell you about their day. Not that your kids always want to tell you about your day, but I was always able to get my kids to talk by saying, “Who was bad today at school?” Then they will tell you. Now they won’t tattle on anyone.

Times have changed.

They won’t tell you about any stories. They want to do things their own way. I think as a parent it can be really frustrating and hard to watch because we have hindsight and sort of can see the trappings of the teen years. We see where you’re going to get in trouble and what boy will be bad for you. How if you worked hard for a better grade you can get into a better college. All these little things we want for our kids. These days, in a sense, parents are doing these things for their kids. They are getting more and more into their lives. I definitely pulled inspiration from little moments and cracks I’ve had. Women of my age, women in their 40s, are starting to go through a mid-life, perimenopause situation. You feather that in the lack of need from your child, who you’ve taken care of the moment you found out they were in your belly. Now you’ve got the right combination of total chaos. 

Does it get your mom or you thinking, “Was I like that?” 

I have asked because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t wrong at this, but I was a rule follower. I was a good girl. I was the oldest, at the time five kids and now eight kids, so I feel like I always had to set an example and take care of the younger ones and look out for them. I feel like I was not quite like that, but of course, I did my own thing. I remember when I got my bellybutton ring, and I was around 18. She knew I was going to do it, but when I came home she said, “Well, I’ve seen it done better.” It was like I know you did it , and I didn’t want you to do it, but I know you could, but here’s my opinion. I think as parents we are always wanting better from our children. 

Melissa Joan Hart and Lily Brooks O’Briant in Killing the Competition. (Lifetime)

What have you taken from this reflection? 

What I learned from this movie too is they say the only person who is going to want better for you is your parents. The rest of the world will be jealous, no matter how your aunts, uncles or friends or friends’ parents think they want you to do well. There is also a little bit of jealousy in everything. The problem is when parents believe that. Like I’m the only thing that wants this for you. Your parents live vicariously through their kid , pushing them to go out of their comfort zone, but not in a good way. In a way that this is not the path for them. That gets hard. So, the character of Elizabeth is very much living vicariously through her daughter and wanting not only what she got but better. I think we can relate to that in some sense. Then there are some who go above and beyond let’s say. 

That’s putting it mildly in this case. It looks like you had so much fun digging into this role. Growing up with you through Clarissa Explains It All, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and all these roles you’ve been in. Here it’s serious but also has some comedic moments like wearing disguises and wigs. How was it taking on this different character from both sides? 

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Yeah, it was really hard because it was written as a true-crime drama. However, when some people read it, they found it to be comedy. We had to find the sweet spot in between. We ended up saying it’s absurd. Sometimes life can be stranger than fiction. We’ve heard that many times. This is one of those stories where it’s stranger than fiction. You don’t want to believe there are people like that out there, but there are a few. To be able to play a character like that, where every day we’re teetering on laughing and crying and me being like, “Is this going to be well-received?” I feel like this will be somewhere between, “Wow, what an interesting take. Like an I, Tonya or Sharknado where it’s what the hell were you thinking.” 

I’m really interested in the feedback. I keep telling my social media followers to let me know how they feel about it. Until you put it together, you don’t really know what you’ve got. That is until the audience starts to see it and weigh in. Big box office movies they’ll show to an audience and then go make changes. We don’t have that luxury for this movie. I’ll be curious what people think. I hope they think it’s juicy and absurd. That’s where we were going. 

Killing the Competition, Premiere, March 1, 8/7c, Lifetime