Real Housewives Star Denise Richards Was Called Out By A Hollywood Heavyweight For Filming A Revealing Scene

Summary

• Denise Richards' revealing scene in Wild Things led to backlash, with director Paul Verhoeven calling her out for it.
• Richards stood her ground against Verhoeven's request for a revealing scene in Starship Troopers.
• Despite her daughters being curious about Wild Things, Richards stands by her decision to star in the movie.

Long before Denise Richards became one of the stars of the Real Housewives franchise, she was a movie star. While some observers have questioned if Richards was a terrible actor, she still headlined many movies, including one that featured a revealing scene.

Now that Richards is rumored to be one of OnlyFans' top earners, she has received a backlash. That is nothing new, however, as Richards revealed she was once called out for filming her revealing scene in the movie Wild Things.

This article will reveal why Denise Richards was called out for filming a revealing scene. Then, the article will look at how filming that revealing scene came back to haunt Richards years later.

Paul Verhoeven Called Out Denise Richards For Filming Her Memorable Wild Things Intimate Scenes

During the late '80s and early '90s, Paul Verhoeven went on an incredible run as a Hollywood filmmaker. After all, Verhoeven directed RoboCop, Total Recall, and Basic Instinct in a row. That is the kind of cinematic run that any director would love to go on.

Verhoeven later directed 1997's Starship Troopers, a movie that underperformed at the time, but is now considered a cult classic. One of Starship Trooper's stars was Denise Richards who portrayed a spaceship pilot in the film.

Years later, in June 2020, Richards spoke to Yahoo! about her life and career. At one point during that interview, Richards revealed that she later got a phone call from Verhoeven that would surprise most film fans.

The year after Starship Troopers was released, one of Richards' most memorable movies came out, Wild Things. While Wild Things is an underrated thriller with an interesting plot, the truth is that the movie is often remembered for a revealing scene that includes Richards.

How Successful was Wild Things, according to The Numbers and Rotten Tomatoes?

When Richards spoke to Yahoo! in 2020, she revealed one person who had a problem with Wild Things' intimate scene. According to Richards, Verhoeven called her out for appearing in Wild Things' intimate scene after the movie was released.

"When this movie came out, the first person who called me was Paul Verhoeven. He said, 'You took your clothes off for this and duh, duh, duh, duh.'"

While Verhoeven was upset with Richards over her Wild Things intimate scene, she didn't back down. According to what Richards told Yahoo!, she stuck up for herself by explaining to Verhoeven that Wild Things' intimate scene moved the film's plot forward.

"And I said, 'Well, if you write scenes where I, that make sense, then sure."

While Richards and Verhoeven's conversation about Wild Things' intimate scene seems strange, there is a greater context to it. Earlier during her Yahoo! interview, Richards explained to the outlet that Verhoeven wanted her to film a revealing scene for Starship Troopers and she refused.

As Richards explained to Yahoo!, Verhoeven asked her about appearing in the revealing scene for Starship Troopers not long before filming began.

"On Starship Troopers, I'll never forget this, Paul Verhoeven right before we started shooting the film. We were in two months of prep for the actors preparing for the part. And he called me into his office and said, 'I wrote a new scene for you.'"

After learning about what Verhoeven's intended revealing scene, Richards concluded it didn't serve a plot purpose. As a result, she told Verhoeven that she didn't want to film the scene.

"When he showed it to me, it was where I was going to be topless. And I told him, um, that I didn't think that it was, you know, important to the character and the movie and all that. And I didn't want to do it."

When Richards was working on Starship Troopers, she wasn't a famous actor, by any means. Conversely, Verhoeven had already enjoyed a great deal of success in Hollywood by the time he was working on Starship Troopers.

As a result, it is easy to imagine how scary saying no to Verhoeven would have been to Richards. During Richards' conversation with Yahoo!, she told the outlet how scared she was that she was going to be fired.

"I left his office crying, calling my agent saying, 'I'm getting fired because I told Paul Verhoeven that I'm not, whatever. I wasn't in the scene when they were all in the shower in Starship."

How Successful was Starship Troopers, according to The Numbers and Rotten Tomatoes?

Fortunately for Richards, she wasn't fired for refusing to appear in Starship Troopers' revealing scene. More than that, Starship Troopers and Wild Things coming out back to back made Richards a movie star. From there Richards wound up appearing in a long list of movies.

Some of Richards' other credits include her roles in movies like Drop Dead Gorgeous, Love Actually, Scary Movie 3, and Madea's Witness Protection. Richards also became a Bond girl when she starred in The World Is Not Enough.

Wild Things' Revealing Scene Came Back To Haunt Denise Richards Years Later

When most people think about Denise Richards' acting career, Wild Things is one of her most popular credits. However, it turns out Richards' Wild Things legacy created an awkward situation for her that had nothing to do with Paul Verhoeven.

In April 2019, Denise Richards spoke to Yahoo! Lifestyle Australia about her life and career. During that interview, Richards revealed that one of her daughters asked her about Wild Things much to the actor's surprise. Richards was surprised because she never told her daughters about the movie.

As Richards explained to the outlet, she told her daughter to stay away from Wild Things because of that memorable scene.

"I definitely did not give [my daughters] a copy [of 'Wild Things']. I told them, 'I don't want you guys watching this,' because one of my daughters brought it up to me, and I was shocked. A couple of friends had told her about it, and I just said to her, 'I would appreciate if you didn't watch it. It's not age-appropriate.'"

Even though she didn't want her daughters watching Wild Things, that doesn't mean that Richards regretted making the film. As Richards told Yahoo! Lifestyle Australia, she explained to her daughters why she starred in Wild Things.

"'It was a movie I did, it was a script I loved, it's me being creative. 'I worked with amazing actors. And one day, if you do see it, you may not agree with my decision, but that's what mom decided to do.'"