Denise Richards Is Ready to Be Asked Back on Housewives – Vulture
Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission.Playing the bombshell in a string of ’90s hits, Denise Richards had the kind of early career that can often peter out. Starship Troopers saw her taking on aliens, The World Is Not Enough saw her taking on James Bond, and Wild Things saw her taking on Neve Campbell in a swimming pool in a scene that went right into every Gen-Xer’s spank bank, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. And let us not forget the cult classic Drop Dead Gorgeous, the only one of her films that her daughters have seen. Much of that was derailed thanks to the wall-to-wall tabloid coverage of her acrimonious divorce from Charlie Sheen in 2005 while pregnant with their second child, but she’s now experiencing a renaissance in the realm of reality television.Following 2009’s lackluster Denise Richards: It’s Complicated, a show about her everyday life that stalled out after two seasons on E!, she became an immediate fan favorite when she joined Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2018. But in her second season the rest of the cast turned on her and she bowed out, again, after two years. Now she’s blending both of those shows — and, presumably, hoping for more than two seasons — with Denise Richards and Her Wild Things. Premiering tonight on Bravo, the new series follows the star, her husband Aaron Phypers, and her three daughters: Sami Sheen, a 20-year-old OnlyFans performer; Lola Sheen, a 19-year-old hostess and devout Christian; and Eloise Richards, an adopted 13-year-old who has developmental disabilities due to a chromosome disorder. The 30-minute episodes are light and fun, featuring many of Denise’s old friends from a lifetime in Hollywood. But her family life, particularly her dynamic with her daughters, is the real heart of the show, and was her main focus when agreeing to return, once again, to reality television.This is your third time doing reality TV. What’s different this time around?Well, the first time I did it, the girls were so little they barely remember even doing it. And then Housewives was mostly the women and our friendships, this is back to my family — and friends, too — so it’s very different.Alex Baskin [the head of Evolution Media, which makes Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and other Bravo shows] approached me after Housewives and asked if I wanted to do a family docuseries, and I asked our family to make sure everyone would be on board. Sami was very excited. She has always said we need a reality show because of all the craziness in our family. Lola at first wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to push it on her, I just wanted her to know that she was in a safe environment with all of it.What were some of Lola’s concerns?She is very involved in her faith. She said she prayed about it and I also told her that first of all, it’s an opportunity for the girls. They’ve lived in the public eye always being referred to as “Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen’s daughters,” and now that they’re adults, it’s an opportunity for them to have their own voice and be their own person. And I also told Lola, to see young adults have the confidence to be able to share their faith, I think is really admirable, and so she thought it would be a good opportunity for her.Your three daughters are all very different. What were your concerns for each of them entering this wacky world of reality television?Well, also with Eloise being special needs, she loves watching herself on TV.Really?She does. When she was on Housewives, we showed her those scenes and she smiled. She loves getting her picture taken, she loves the camera. And so we also asked her and she was excited about doing it, gave us thumbs-up.My concern is just in putting themselves out there, there’s so much positive that comes out of it, but you also have to be prepared for the naysayers and try to black out negativity. So that’s the other thing that I was worried about, but they have a good head on their shoulders. I wish that I had their confidence and I was secure like they are. When I was their age, I was much more insecure and much more naïve, and I think they will navigate this well.There’s this whole thing on the show about how your daughters have never really watched any of your movies, how do you feel about that?I’m okay with it. I wasn’t the type of mom that would come home and have a library of all my stuff and say, “Okay, we’re going to sit down and it’s going to be family night with movies mom’s done.” It just never occurred to me, they never asked. I’ve said this before, I think for the longest time they didn’t even know what I did. They were on set a lot, but they were mostly in the hair and makeup trailer and I really think they probably thought for the longest time I just worked in a trailer because they would just see me get ready, and they would stay in the trailer and play with the makeup, or put wigs on, and try clothes and jewelry.They do learn about certain things on TikTok. Sami says there’ll be little videos and she said, “I didn’t know you were on Friends.” And I said, “Yeah, it’s actually an iconic episode with my hair.” So they really don’t know because it doesn’t occur to me to even run down my resumé with them.Aaron didn’t seem to love being on Housewives, how did you sell him on this project?Actually, the first season he did like it, he was very supportive. He felt bad for me the second season, where my friendship with Lisa Rinna went and how some of the women are. And by the way, I liked doing Housewives and I would do it again. I went a different way the second season, but for the most part really enjoyed doing the show and I made some friends. And in this situation he was very supportive and he also liked the idea of it being about our family.What did you enjoy about doing Housewives?I really loved the trips. As we get older, and we have our career, and we have our kids, and we have our husbands, it’s hard to get a group of women to really have that time together and not have to worry about anyone, but just to have fun. And so I really did, even though there’s a lot of arguing on them, but there’s a lot of fun moments too.Speaking of Housewives, it looks like you’re sitting down with Erika Jayne this season on the show. How was that experience?I’m so glad that we did because my first season on the show I felt a connection with her and I felt like we hit it off and we became friends. And my second season, it just seemed like it went in a whole different direction and I really felt like there was some unresolved stuff, and I wanted to sit down with her and I’m glad that I did.So are we going to see more of your OnlyFans journey on Denise Richards and Her Wild Things?Yeah, we show a little bit of everything that we do and that’s going on in our life. The good news is, with OnlyFans I own what I post and I control what I post. I didn’t know what OnlyFans was when Sami told me she was going to join it, and then I quickly learned.We also get to see some of your old friends, like Charlie’s ex-wife Brooke Mueller and Tori Spelling. What’s your secret for keeping friends in Hollywood?There’s no secret, I think you just connect with someone. And even if we go months or longer not seeing each other or talking, because a lot of us travel so much we’re not always in the same city, we still pick up where we left off and we all understand that with each other, we get it. Some friends that aren’t in the industry don’t understand so much, and that can be hard too.But with Brooke, it’s no secret that it hasn’t always been easy and it’s been up and down. We actually went a couple of years, maybe longer, without even talking to each other and we had recently reconnected about two years ago, and I’m glad. She does know I’m always here for her and the boys and I like to keep things very harmonious and peaceful with all of us. We’re all in each other’s lives, she’s the mother of Sam and Lola’s brothers. And same with Charlie, I’m glad he makes an appearance. I think it’s important for him to also support what the girls are doing, and also he is part of our life and the show is about our life. And so I am glad that people will see him too, and right now, things aren’t all in a good, positive way, but it’s always up and down, and it’ll go back up again.Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission.Have an account?
