When you hear the name Denise Richards, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Is it the hot girl image? Her role in Wild Things? Perhaps her marriage to Charlie Sheen? But how much do you really know about Denise? And did you know that she didn’t intend to become the Hollywood bombshell? Let’s learn more about Denise Richards and her transformations.
Denise grew up in a tiny town in Illinois. Her family was the epitome of ordinary and normal at the time. Her dad was a telephone engineer and her mom owned a coffee shop. Her childhood years were spent doing normal kid things, her family was her whole world, and her mom had always dinner ready at 6 pm.
During her teenage years, her family moved to California. When she was graduating from high school she was voted the most good-looking in her year. What a surprise, right? She went on to become a model, and that gave her the opportunity to travel the world after high school. Her modeling took her to all the fashion capitals of the world – Paris, Tokyo, New York. Her looks also allowed her to dabble in acting. She often got cast as the hot girl. You might remember her roles in “Saved By The Bell”, “Melrose Place”, “Beverly Hills, 90210” and other hit shows at the time.
Then came her role of Kelly Van Ryan in “Wild Things,” which was a real breakthrough for Denise Richards. This is what most people think of when they think of her. But this role was conflicting for Denise. It made her famous, opened up a lot of opportunities, but at the same time, this was the beginning of being typecast. What’s more, Denise didn’t relate to the role at all, she has shared in a recent interview that she’s nothing like her character, but for some reason, people decided to treat that role as if it was a documentary of her life.
Her other big role after that was in the movie “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” where she played Becky. If you remember, that was a movie that featured a lot of famous actresses like Kirsten Dunst, Kirsty Alley, Brittany Murphy, and Amy Adams. After that more big jobs followed.
She had roles in “Friends”, “30 Rock”, “Spin City”, “Love Actually.” And while her acting career was moving along, Denise was sad she could never get the roles she wanted. She always got the role of the bombshell, the hot girlfriend, when what she wanted was to be the girl next door. That’s how Denise sees herself, after all, she’s a girl from a small town, Illinois.
In the early 2000’s she started dating Charlie Sheen, and while now most of us would say “well that was a mistake, that man is unhinged”, back then he was sober for a few good years and that’s how Denise met him. They got married in 2002 had a baby daughter, but by 2005 Denise filed for divorce, even though she was very pregnant with their second child. She had to divorce Charlie, because he was back on the drink and who knows what else. He was becoming uncontrollable and violent at times, and it just wasn’t safe for her or their kid. It was a dark time.
But Denise always tried to maintain some sort of relationship with Sheen for the kids. She didn’t want their children to have to choose between mom and dad. Denise even helped out Charlie when he was in trouble in 2012 after his divorce from Brooke Mueller, and temporarily had custody of his twin sons.
Yet in the middle of all that mess, Denise also managed to adopt another kid, Eloise. The girl had a rare disorder that slowed her growth and causes speech delays, but Denise thought she was perfect and welcomed her into her family with open arms.
In 2018 Denise married Aaron Phypers, a sound and light therapist from Beverly Hills. (Yup, they met when she came for treatment, so she basically married her therapist). They seem very happy together and Denise often shared photos of them together on Instagram and gushes about how happy she is to have found such a loving and supportive partner.
Denise also ventured into the world of The Real Housewives. She had quite a scandal on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” but quit in 2020 because a rumor started that she had an affair with a co-star Brandi Glanville. Denise spent a lot of time defending herself and in the end, her friendship with Brandi wasn’t enough to keep her on the show.
These days she’s running the Quantum Reach Foundation with her husband, which she’s very excited about. And she has a role in “Bold and Beautiful.” We’re not worried for Denise, she won’t have a problem finding jobs, since she’s had experience working on every set possible, from reality TV and Soap Operas to TV shows and movies.
