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Fans of TV sweetheart Melissa Joan Hart may be shocked by her recent racy poses on the covers of men's magazines. But don't let the recent cheesecake spreads fool you, says Hart. The 23-year-old actress, who played a precocious teen on the popular Nickelodeon series "Clarissa Explains It All" and now stars as a high-schooler with magical powers on ABC's "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," insists she's still the clean-cut role model she has always been.

"I'm not trying to change my image," says Hart about posing for Maxim wearing nothing but panties and a smile, sporting a revealing swimsuit in the latest issue of Bikini and doing a vampy photo shoot for Movieline magazine early this year.

"I'm not doing this for any kind of shock value, or to show that I can do this," she adds, while also denying rumors that she is poised to pose for Playboy. "I'm just trying to have fun, more than anything."

Not to mention grab a little attention for her first starring role in a feature film. In the teen comedy "Drive Me Crazy," opening Friday, Hart plays a popular high-schooler who's in with the "in" crowd, yet is shunned by the big man on campus. To make him jealous, Hart's character pretends to go steady with a childhood friend who doesn't fit in with her circle of preppy pals.

Melissa Joan Hart with Adam Grenier in 'Drive Me Crazy.'

It's the latest in a rash of movies geared to the Clearasil set, and Hart admits the provocative spreads are an attempt to set "Drive Me Crazy" apart from the rest of the pack. "I wanted to get a lot of good press for this movie so people would know about it, and I think I did," says Hart, laughing.

But not so amused, she says, is Viacom, the media giant that owns "Sabrina," the sitcom that anchors ABC's family-oriented Friday-night lineup.

"The company that does my show isn't too happy about (the Maxim cover)," she says. "Actually, a couple of (endorsement) deals have fallen apart because of it. But then again, everybody's talking about it, and I've only heard good things about it."

No matter what people may think, Hart says maintaining a proper image is a responsibility she takes seriously. As the teenage star of "Clarissa" from 1991 to 1994, Hart built a huge fan following, especially among young girls, and many of them are now loyal "Sabrina" viewers.

But Hart also wants people to realize that she only plays a teen on TV. She is an adult now, after all, old enough to pose for sexy pictures. But that is as big a scandal as you're gonna get from her.

"I do have to be careful," says Hart. "I still have a job, I still have fans, and my family and my mom have a lot of trust in me that I'm not going to disappoint them. My little brothers and sisters look up to me, so that keeps me in line. My little siblings are kind of like a small portion of my audience."

The oldest of seven children, Hart has been acting since she appeared in a doll commercial at age 4. With her mother, Paula, managing her career, the Sayville, L.I., native later appeared on several TV shows, including "The Lucie Arnaz Show" and "The Equalizer." At 13, Hart made her Broadway debut in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" opposite Martin Sheen, and was also the youngest member of Off-Broadway's Circle Repertory Company.

Hart as 'Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.'

But it was as Clarissa -- a perky, smart-mouthed teen who often broke the fourth wall and addressed viewers about her growing pains -- that the blond, blue-eyed Hart became a star. The character even spawned a slew of related merchandise, including books, videos and board games.

After the show's run, Hart went against type and starred in a pair of intensely dramatic TV-movies for NBC. In 1996's "Twisted Desire," Hart played a teen who persuades her boyfriend to kill her parents. The following year, she played a college student investigating a series of campus rapes in "Silencing Mary."

With her mother as partner, Hart founded her own production company, Hartbreak Films, and in 1996 developed "Sabrina" as a starring vehicle for herself. Hart says the series, about a wholesome teen witch coping with high-school life, is contracted to run through 2004.

Considering she has been a teen idol since she was 15, Hart is a latecomer to feature films -- especially when so many of her TV contemporaries already have established big-screen careers. "I just didn't want to make any hasty decisions," explains Hart. "I wanted to do the right project for me, because I want longevity. (What was being offered) was all horror movies like `Scream,' and I didn't want to do a horror movie."

"Drive Me Crazy" is just the beginning of her movie career, although she can't divulge details about her next project until it's official. But Hart is nevertheless pining to get back into theater. That's in addition to completing her degree at New York University, which she attended through correspondence courses.

"I'd love to get back into theater," says Hart. "It's like a regular job. You do your show, you take your bows and you walk offstage. It scares me to death thinking about it, but I want to do things that scare me again."