with Starship Troopers and Wild Things already under her

belt, Hollywood star Denise Richards sets her sights on

FHM Surprisingly, the best delivered line in a movie in the last 12

months didn't come from some highly regarded British

thespian in a Shakespearean adaptation or by one of

Hollywood's De Niro-styled method-acting big guns. In

fact, it came from a relative newcomer in only her second

major movie. The juicy snippet of dialogue is said by

American actress Denise Richards towards the end of Wild

Things - the hit double-cross movie she starred in

alongside Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon and Kevin Bacon.

With the freshly bludgeoned corpse of her bisexual lover -

and co-conspirator in the movie's labyrinthine plot -

wrapped in plastic in the boot of her car, she turns to Matt

Dillon's character and says with jaw-dropping insensitivity:

"Mom would kill me if she knew I'd taken the Land Rover."

As sociopathic sex kittens go, Richards' performance is

pretty much the new benchmark. In only 18 months,

Illinois-born Denise has shot to the top of the latest

generation of hot new Hollywood actresses by starring as

space pilot Carmen Ibanez in Starship Troopers, and as

scene-stealing sexpot Kelly Van Ryan in Wild Things. In

just two movies, Denise has revealed not only top-notch

acting ability but also the best body in movies... a body

which today is clothed in white t-shirt and grey sweat

shorts. She orders a breakfast of pink grapefruit and sits

down to chat in the dining room of The Argyle, Los

Angeles' hippest hotel. FHM's interview has an ungodly

8am start time because Denise has a crucial appointment

later in the day with a dialogue coach, who is training her in

the distinctive Fargo-esqe drawl of the American midwest

for her next movie, Dairy Queens. In it, she plays a spoilt

little princess warring with a fellow contestant for the

crown in a local beauty pageant.

Apart from mastering her character's tricky accent, she also

has to get her head around the part's gaudy wardrobe. "It's

a total midwestern look with hideous clothes and terrible

hair and bad make-up," she laughs. "The director sent me a

video of an actual pageant in Minnesota. There are

interviews with the townsfolk and the girls and their

mothers, and it's amazing how seriously they take it. It's

not like it's some kind of elaborate Miss America or Miss

Universe - come on guys, it's just some local beauty

contest."

So, what happens in your new movie?

It's a black comedy. We all play our roles really straight,

which just makes it even funnier. It's got weird, sick things

in it. Like my whole thing is that I'm religious because it's

been instilled in me that Jesus loves winners. And at the

beauty contest, for my "talent" I sing My Guy. I have a

mannequin of Jesus - who is "my guy" - and I sing really

badly. During the song, his loin-cloth falls off and I hold it

in place. It looks like I'm holding his crotch.

Do you ever look up your own name on the

Internet?

I don't own a computer, but I know there are pictures of me

on there. I have no idea where they've come from. There's

a couple of sites with the word "sex" in the title, then

they've got my name listed. And if there are pictures of me

naked - and I've heard that there are - they're all fake. I've

never taken any of those pictures, ha ha! The only nudity

I've done was for Wild Things.

You were a model, though, right?

I modelled for the covers of young girls' magazines when I

was 14 or 15, and I did stuff for teen make-up lines. But

because I'm just 5ft 6in, I wasn't tall enough to do runway

stuff. And I never did any TV ads.

What was your first experiment with make-up

like?

Oh gosh, it was terrible. It was all over the place. I've loved

make-up since I was a kid - I'd watch my mom put hers on

and I couldn't wait until I was old enough. My parents

were very strict about when I could wear make-up, when I

could date and when I could shave my legs. They had

rules.

Didn't you ever just wait until you were out of

the house, then put it on?

Yeah. I'd put make-up on at school, then wipe it off before

I'd get home. But I'd always get caught. I don't know if the

teachers were telling my parents, but I'd get home and my

mom would say, "You know you're not old enough to wear

make-up." I still don't know how she knew. I was about 14

when I could wear lipstick. But when I was finally allowed

to wear make-up, I really wore make-up! I'll never forget

when I was 16, and me and my best friend Karen used to

take Spanish right before lunch. I had a big purse full of

make-up and a mirror and would start doing my make-up in

the lesson because I had to look cute for the boys at lunch!

I failed Spanish, by the way.

Did you have a lot of boyfriends at school?

Actually, I had a boyfriend all through high school. He was

a surfer. I guess I liked guys with a little bit of an edge. I

still do, but they have to have their shit together. They

need to know when to be serious.

Were you popular at college?

Hmmm. I was pretty quiet, but I liked to have fun. And I

was shy, but I got in trouble a lot for talking. I was never

nominated for anything like Prom Queen or Homecoming

Queen. What was weird was that in my yearbook I was

voted best-looking girl. It was really odd because I wasn't

the most popular girl at school and hadn't been nominated

for anything before. And remember, when I was younger I

had braces and was really gangly and I still had bushy

eyebrows. I went through a very ugly stage.

Were you a stroppy teenager?

I was pretty rebellious when I went through puberty. It's

very embarrassing to look back on it. But I never did

anything really outrageous. I never did drugs, I never got

arrested for drunk driving. I was never thrown in jail or got

pregnant. I slammed doors a lot at home. But I'd grown out

of it by 17.

Did you ever have a crush on a teacher?

Yeah. In high school I fancied a science teacher - he looked

like Christopher Reeve. But I'd never do anything about it.

I'd never flirt with him or try to seduce him. He knew all the

girls swooned around him. He was a cutie.

Do you get pestered by fans when you're out in

public?

I've had people come up and say "Hi, Denise" and just

start talking to me, and it takes me a while to realise I don't

know them. The fact they think they know me is weird. And

the amount of effort people have put in to some of the

letters that I've received - sending pictures of themselves

or of me. Don't they have anything better to do with their

time? They have a computer to make this fancy-schmantzy

letter - couldn't they use it more productively?

What's your favourite junk food?

Ice cream. Häagen-Dazs. And I love toastidos - they're like

nachos with salsa. I'm not a burger-and-fries kind of girl.

Generally I eat really healthily, but if I splurge then it's

going to be on chips and margaritas.

Are you a good cook?

I can cook, even though I live alone. It's funny, my

girlfriends talk about how you cook differently when you

live on your own, but I can do chicken and spring

vegetables. My mom taught me a few things. If I wanted to

impress you I'd cook lasagne. That's the first thing you

learn to make when you need to impress someone. You

can't screw up lasagne.

What's your worst habit?

Well, I don't smoke or do drugs, so it's not going to be that

bad. I drink occasionally but that's not a habit. I used to

chew gum a lot, and that was pretty annoying for other

people. And my sister says I touch my hair too much. I'm

sure I've got worse habits, but I'll have to get back to you.

Are you really anal about keeping your

apartment neat?

I'm not the tidiest person in the world. My place isn't dirty

- but it's certainly not neat. I have someone come round to

clean. I don't mind picking up trash and tidying the

bedroom, but I hate cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

John Travolta. Man, in Saturday Night Fever and Grease he

really did it for me. And Tom Cruise: I had a huge crush on

him. I met him once - I had a smile plastered all over my

face. I must have looked like an idiot. I just couldn't stop

staring at him - he's got such a presence. This was only six

months ago. He introduced himself and said "Hi!" He's got

a beautiful smile.

Enough drooling. Can you remember your first

kiss?

I was about 12. The boys and the girls got in trouble with

the school and because we'd have little parties at our

houses and play Spin The Bottle. All our parents had a

meeting, and I remember being in so much trouble! But that

was more like a peck. My first real kiss was with this boy

behind a bush at school. We planned the whole thing. I

just remember it being, like, weird. It was a tongue kiss.

And he had kept his baby teeth for so long for some reason

that he had to have them taken out, so he didn't have any

front teeth. Jonathan Fellows - I'll never forget his name.

Are you a good kisser?

You'll have to ask Neve Campbell...

I did. She said kissing you in Wild Things

wasn't as bad as she'd expected.

We had fun with it. But doing it in front of a camera crew is

awkward, so we got drunk. Every time the director said

"cut", we collapsed in laughter. But it's just a mouth.

Kissing a girl on film is difficult because of the whole "two

girls together" thing in front of the crew, and even the

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not erotic or sexy. Even kissing a guy when I'm working

doesn't turn me on. Ever.

Have you ever shoplifted?

My friend did once when we were together. We were 16.

She got arrested. We were both trying on clothes and I

remember being outside the mall when she said "Run!" and

they caught her. I had to call her mom to come and get her

out. I didn't take anything. I was scared to death.

And finally, what's your favourite swear word?

I swear, but I'm trying not to. I have a three-year-old

nephew and he picks up every word you say, so I can't say

a word in front of him. I say the F-word a lot, but I don't

think it's very ladylike. It's not a classy thing to come out

of my mouth.