While Denise Richards is still making all kinds of movies and television these days – with the romcom Love Accidentally coming to Amazon Freevee on July 15 – many folks know her best from late ’90s roles in films like Starship Troopers, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and the infamous thriller Wild Things. It’s the latter of those films which has recently been released on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Arrow Video, along with a slew of extras. To celebrate its release, we hopped on Zoom with Richards to discuss her output from that era and its recent reappraisal.
STARBURST:: Did you ever think you’d see the day where Wild Things would get such a deluxe treatment such as it has with this Arrow 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray?
Denise Richards: No, and I cannot believe how many years it’s been since we’ve filmed it, too, but it’s exciting.
There have been quite a few Blu-ray releases of many of your ’90s films put out lately, like Wild Things, but also Tammy & The T-Rex and Drop Dead Gorgeous, all within the last few years. How does it feel for you to be revisiting all these films?
It’s actually fun and it brings back a lot of fond memories of a lot of them and, you know, they’ve definitely changed my career. It’s been fun to think back and the times I filmed them.
You’ve done brand-new interviews, for each of these releases. What sort of prep do you have to do to go back and recall these things that you know happened two decades ago?
I just try to remember, just by asking questions and really try to think. Luckily I can remember certain things, but it’s funny–I’ve said this in other interviews–when people ask me, “What was it like actually filming?” I always remember a lot of the stuff off-camera and where I was in that part of my life at that time and remembering different things that way too. It’s fun to go back and think about different times.
Different actors have different opinions on their past work and whether they want to go back and rewatch it but, when these things get cleaned up and remastered, are you ever tempted to go back and rewatch the movies just to see what they look like now?
No, I don’t like to watch my work at all. I’m sure it’ll be wonderful and they’ll do a great job with it and it’ll look really good, but I have no desire to watch it. I’m sorry.
For fans, these are fresh in their mind. They’re something to which they’ve been attached and seen a bunch. But it’s understandable that, for some actors it’s like, “No, this is the thing I did once and now it’s done. Would you want to go back and see what you did when you were in your 20s?”
Well, I don’t even like seeing or watching stuff that I do now. I don’t watch my work–most of it. These I did because I went to the premiere, but I really do not like to see. Some actors don’t watch their work and some will hold a screening or a little party.
Is it rewarding to see the movies you made during this time reappraised as cult classics? Yeah. I actually am. I never would’ve thought that when we were making them and, especially this many years later, to still have people enjoy watching them. It’s really a wonderful feeling and I feel very blessed to be part of a lot–all of ’em. I’m very grateful and it does feel good and it’s rewarding. I’m very thankful that people still love watching ’em. I just don’t want my kids watching some of them, that’s all. [laughs]
Oh, of course. We’ve never really approached this with anybody who’s been in like a genre film or anything, but the idea of seeing one’s parent engaged in risky business type behavior – that’s just gotta be one of those things where you’re just like, “I’m very proud of what I did,” but also like, “Yeah no.”
Yeah. I never thought when I shot Wild Things, “One day my kids might see this,” because I wasn’t married and didn’t have children at the time, so I wasn’t even thinking that. And now, having teenage daughters, I will say they, they have no desire to watch it, which is good. They would tell me. They’re very honest. So I’m glad that they don’t wanna see it.
Given the reappraisal of some of your films over the years, are we due for a second look at Undercover Brother on its 20th anniversary this year?
I think so. That was a fun movie. We had so much fun doing it. It’s so camp and silly.
It’s so great that you say that because it seems like so many of the movies that you’ve been in are quite fun. They might be very out there. They might not necessarily be based in reality, but it seems a lot of the movies we’ve been talking about the last few minutes were fun movies. Was that what attracted you to them?
Yeah, I think so. I mean, I have a good sense of humor and I love that a lot of them are very tongue-in-cheek. When you can have fun on set, filming and acting with each other and laugh and be paid for it, it’s such a great part of the job. It’s something that I love. They are fun and we can make jokes – you know, they’re silly. It’s a different environment on set than when doing something where you’re having to be really emotional and cry. Those are great too, and great for being an actor, but it’s always fun to laugh on set.
What projects do you have that you’re working on now that you can talk about?
I have a movie that’s gonna be on Amazon, July 15th. It’s called Love Accidentally and it’s a little romantic comedy. It’s cute. It’s a feel good movie. And I have a couple other projects too, that I finished. I’ve been busy. It was interesting working during the pandemic. It was a whole different environment on set, too, but I’m glad that we were able to still work and put material out there for people to be entertained and enjoy.
Wild Things is out now on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
