Denise Richards' Family Life, No Filter

Richards’ new show, centered on her family and friends' lives in Malibu, has dropped on Bravo. Ahead of its premiere, PAPER sat down with Richards to talk about life after Real Housewives, that first go-around with the reality TV cameras amid her divorce from Charlie Sheen, and what it’s been like watching her daughters discover her movies.

Considering her work in reality TV and the aforementioned films, it’s surprising how largely unfazed she seems to be by the chaos of a decades-long entertainment career. Our conversation is peppered with the frequent “Oh my gosh,” alongside various asides on motherhood and watching her children grow up, and the normalcy of family life and fame.

Read our full and fabulous conversation, below. Denise Richards and Her Wild Things airs Tuesdays at 9 PM ET/PT on Bravo.

Were you nervous at all going back to the personal reality television format, or were you excited to get back into the fray?

I was actually excited. Alex Baskin approached me after Real Housewives and asked if I wanted to do a family docu-series, and I really just wanted to make sure that the girls were all on board. Eloise loved seeing herself on camera. She gave a thumbs up and was excited. Sami was very excited. She, over the years, has always said, “We need another family reality show, because it's always crazy.” Lola, she at first wasn't sure, but then she decided, “You know what, I am going too. I really do want to do this.”

And my biggest thing was, I told the whole family, “We never set up, or we're not going to talk about this or that.” I wanted everyone to be themselves. And I think the girls, one of the things that people will be able to relate to with them, is that you can tell they are themselves. They don't have a filter. And even though our family is very public, I as a mom, have a lot of issues and concerns that many parents do, trying to navigate teenagers, trying to let go, letting them grow up and be their own adults, having to navigate sibling rivalry. Those are all things that parents can relate to, and also having a special needs daughter. Many people have special needs children, or have someone in their family, and I’m glad that Eloise wanted to be on the show too.

With your daughters specifically, there is so much that has been public about your life and that you’ve made public. You talk about how open of a book you are, but is that something you’ve always been like? Or has that developed out of necessity being in the public eye?

I think when I first started my career, I was much more private and more guarded with interviews and trying to protect my privacy, but it was also a very different time. Then going through a very public divorce, and being misunderstood and having different things written, I figured, well, there's nothing you can do at this point. When I did my reality show, It's Complicated, it was a very difficult time in my life, going through a divorce. I just lost my mom and I was going through the divorce, it was so public. I had a hard time actually getting acting jobs, because a lot of people in the industry thought I was trying to take down a huge TV actor, and I was very misunderstood with a lot of stuff, and it wasn't easy.

My mom always said “this too shall pass,” and she was right. So it's hard to not be public when stuff is so public. And that's why I made the decision, even going on Real Housewives, I thought it would be fun, and I did have fun. I did enjoy it. There were times it was challenging, but overall, I was glad that I did the show and this just seems like the right time for us to do our family reality show after being asked to do one.

Looking back at your first brush with reality TV to now, did you ever think you would see yourself at that point doing this again?

You know what? My girls were so little then, that it was hard to imagine them being now 19 and 20 years old. I can't believe Sam is turning 21, I can't believe I have a 21-year-old daughter. And back then I didn't have Eloise and I wasn't remarried. I'm also the type of person that likes to stay in the present and focus on that. Gosh, some of the things, even when I did Playboy, Sami was five months old. I didn't think, One day when she's a teenager, boys might say something. You don't imagine your kids even getting that old. I don't know why, it seems so far away. So I didn't think about it back then.

Sami has an OnlyFans now, as do you. With being so famous and public, you have to have conversations with your daughters most people might not have to have. Do you find it's difficult or challenging to talk about boundaries, just as a mom with your kids, when there's this added element of fame and a spotlight on your family?

The girls, this is all they know. They've grown up with paparazzi being around. They've grown up with things in the tabloids. This is their normal. And with OnlyFans, well, with a lot of my jobs, I tell them, “That’s my job.” And then mom at home, I'm different, and I believe my girls are pretty good about separating it, they just see me as mom. For the longest time, they didn't even know what I did for a living. They haven't seen any of my movies. They don't even know half of what I've done.

Speaking of your movies, it's funny to think of them having never seen Drop Dead Gorgeous. I mean, that's one of my favorite movies of all time. They should see that.

Well, Sami saw it a month ago on the airplane and sent me a photo, and Lola, that's the only thing Lola's ever seen of mine when she was 10. Otherwise, they didn't even know most of what I've done, except Sami says her TikTok will show like a little clip. Like, “I didn't know you were on Friends,” because she started watching Friends a couple years ago, and she was excited to see I was on it. So they don't even ask, but they also grew up going to sets. Obviously not the movies before they were born, but they have gone to sets many times with me and when I'm on location. Now that they're older, I can go away longer and I just say, “I'm going to set.” They don't ask me, “Oh, what are you doing?” They'll see something and they're like, “I didn't know you did that? I go, “Yeah, that's where I was.”

Have you been aware at all of a renewed interest via TikTok and social media of movies you've been in, like Starship Troopers or Drop Dead Gorgeous, because younger generations are going back and discovering them?

It actually really touches me. I feel so humbled to be in some movies that other generations are discovering and enjoying. I recently started doing some ComicCons and I love going. It's so fun for me to meet fans. Without fans, I wouldn't have a job, so it’s nice to connect. They bring stuff that I've never seen before for me to sign. Seeing younger people discover things, I feel very blessed and I'm very grateful.

Would you ever do a Starship Troopers 2, if the opportunity came around with reboot culture?

Oh my gosh, with us old people? Sure.

You mentioned Comic Con, there’s clearly an audience for it. People would be hungry for it.

We could just sit down and let the other guys do all the action stuff. But I love that most of us are still really close friends, and we have talked about it.

Please, I’m sure there’s a streaming service somewhere. I was actually watching Nowhere recently, the Gregg Araki movie, and went, “Oh my god, that’s Denise Richards.” You popped up in a scene.

Oh that’s so funny, I still haven’t seen that one yet.

You talked about your daughters, especially Eloise. It was really special on Real Housewives to see her journey being adopted by Aaron. How have they been doing since we last saw them?

He's got such a close relationship with her. He adores her, she adores him. They have a great connection, and that's her dad and it's amazing. What she has was very difficult to diagnose and it's been a challenging journey at times. But she's an angel, and she is the voice of reason for the girls too. Even though she's primarily non-verbal, we understand her. She says some words and she just laughs at the girls when they're fighting. She thinks it's crazy, and the girls have a really close relationship with her too.

How much of your daughters’ relationship do we see on the show?

We show all parts of our family. I love that we are able to and I love how close they are, and you definitely will see Eloise quite a bit.

You have some cameos in the show from some familiar faces to the Bravo audiences, like Camille, Kathy, Garcelle and Sutton. How many of them did you know prior to joining the Bravo universe, so to speak, and how many of them were newer friends?

Kathy is a newer friend since joining Bravo. Garcelle, I knew her for years. Camille, I've known for years. Sutton is a newer friend that I met on that show, and that's one of the things I love about doing Real Housewives, is forming these friendships, not only with just this particular one, Beverly Hills, but I've become friends with some housewives in other cities too. So it's nice. The show is about our life and Camille is a dear friend of mine, so it was fun to film with her. Tori Spelling and I've been friends for years, so I did her podcast and we filmed with her. Those are my friends in real life, and they're familiar faces and I think it's fun for people to see that.

The environment of Real Housewives can be so tense at times. Did you feel like the pressure was off in this environment, getting to hang out with your friends and not have the expectation that sometimes comes with some other franchises on the network?

There is a lot of arguing on the Real Housewives, but they're silly arguments. There is also a lot of showing the women being silly and having fun. I love that it also allows for the housewives to do that, and be women and silly with each other and have a good time. And on [Denise Richards and Her Wild Things], it's a different kind of thing. I'm dealing with arguing with my kids. There were times, trust me, I was like, oh, gosh, I wish I was at a table with what Aaron called, um, I think, “the fighting ladies.” Something like that. There were times, trust me, I was like, oh gosh, dealing with my kids fighting, it might be easier dealing with the women, because it's silly.

In the trailer, it looks like you join Erika Jayne for lunch and you seem to have a reaction seeing her. Is there anything you can tease about that conversation for viewers who are eager to see how it plays out?

I've really had a great connection with Erika. The first season, we got along right away. Second season for me didn't even start great, went sideways quickly and I felt like there were some unresolved stuff between us. And I'm really glad that we got together. That’s all I’ll tease.

It's hard to not be public when stuff is so public.

Photos courtesy of Bronson Farr/Bravo