The Real Thing

Denise Richards is showing new sides of herself on B&B and THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS

- Tom Stacy

Denise Richards was 15 years old when she and her family left Downers Grove, IL, and headed west to settle in Oceanside, CA, and it changed the course of her life. After graduating high school, Richards began working as a model and traveled the globe doing high-fashion gigs. She ultimately transitioned into acting, landing episodic work on early ’90s series like SAVED BY THE BELL, MARRIED WITH CHILDREN, SEINFELD, BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 and MELROSE PLACE. Her big break, however, came in 1997, when she appeared in the film Starship Troopers and was nominated as Favorite Female Newcomer at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.

Richards has worked steadily ever since, but there was one medium she hadn’t tackled, so when B&B approached her to play Shauna, she was intrigued. “I’ve never done a daytime soap opera before but I thought it would be something fun and different,” she says. “I had a wonderful conversation with Bradley Bell [executive producer/head writer] and it was just out of my usual comfort zone, which made it even more appealing.”

Richards didn’t come in flying blind — she knew about soaps from good pal Lisa Rinna (ex-Billie, DAYS) and Darin Brooks (Wyatt), with whom she worked on the series BLUE MOUNTAIN STATE. “Obviously, he’s been on the show for quite some time, but I thought it would be fun to work with him,” she shares. “And I’ve had friends like Lisa Rinna who’ve been on soap operas before and they’ve all enjoyed their experience, so I thought it would be something challenging because the show shoots two episodes a day, and you really have to be on your game. It kind of sealed the deal.”