Denise Richards Valentine

LUCKY VALENTINE

EXCLUSIVE Denise Richards/Valentine Interview

by Paul Fischer in Los Angeles.

Gorgeous Denise Richards gets to poke fun at herself in Friends later this year, but first, she is ready to scare the pants of moviegoers as Valentine hits the screen. She spoke to Paul Fischer in Los Angeles' trendy W Hotel.

Denise Richards' long, flowing hair defines a luminous quality in an actress who loves to poke fun at her physicality. In a recent episode of Friends, aired recently here, Richards's hair flows constantly in slow motion, much to a comically chagrined cousin Ross. "I had incredible fun doing that show. I would have done a walk-on without lines if they'd asked me too", she says.

When she is not being a TV comedienne, the 29-year old ex-model, is busy on the big screen, her latest cinematic outing being the horror flick Valentine, from Aussie director Jamie Blanks. Richards admits that while not being a complete devotee of the horror genre, she "loved the early eighties' horror films like Friday the Thirteenth and Halloween." In Valentine, a yarn about a group of young women being stalked by the kid they jilted years ago at the big dance, Richards has fun as the strong-minded gal in the group, and says that she loved the fact "this was a throwback to those movies I loved growing up, with the young cast and supposed to be scary." Off-camera, Richards had a good time with her fellow cast-mates on the Valentine shoot. "Up in Vancouver we all stayed in the same hotel. It was fun, and it wasn't some deep dramatic piece that we all had to prepare for." In Valentine, Richards' character and her friends are led to believe that the killer is someone they mutually rejected in High School. Life experience has given her enough preparation for the scenario. "They nicknamed me 'fishlips'; it was horrible," she says. Not these days. Quite the opposite one suspects. "I'm flattered people think I'm a sex symbol, but I hate to burst bubbles. I'm just like every other girl," insists the woman who made nuclear science a sexy profession in the Bond adventure The World Is Not Enough.

Since we're discussing Valentine, Richards talks about what is so special about Valentine Days, even for simple girls like herself. "If I'm in a relationship, I think it's fun to get flowers and candy and go on a romantic rendezvous. If I'm not actually dating, I think Valentine Day is really yucky." Her most romantic Valentine rendezvous occurred during the filming of The World Is Not Enough. "The guy I was dating took me to the Eiffel Tower to drink champagne." At the moment, Richards remains coy about her private life, preferring, she says smilingly, "to spend time with her dogs", which includes a Pug. "I love animals with squashed faces, and he's sooooo adorable." Currently in Canada filming, the sultry actress who steamed up the screen in the likes of Wild Things, has managed to take one of her dogs on location. "I love my Golden Retriever." The film that she is shooting is You Stupid Man. In the film, the "stupid man" (David Krumholz) in question yearns for an unattainable former sweetie (Richards) who has left home to become a successful L.A. actress. Also featured in the relationship comedy are Milla Jovovich, Jessica Cauffiel, and William Baldwin. But Richards has the fun role of mildly spoofing a trend-setting actress in a hit TV show for teens. The fact that Richards appeared in Melrose Place eight years ago gives her some inside information on what's required, although she seems more interested in the humorous he-she dynamic of the story than her send-up, "which was the great appeal of the film" as well as its comedic tone.

Incredibly busy, Richards has three other films due out soon and doesn't even rule out a return to the world of 007. "I had a blast working on the Bond movie, and it did a lot for my career." Meanwhile, sexy Denise parades on screen in a bikini as a possible slasher victim in Valentine, and is having a great time in the process.